A COUNCIL will next week decide how it will make over £2million of cuts ordered in the Government’s emergency budget.
Calderdale Council has been asked to reduce spending by £2,245,000 after the Government announced £6.2billion worth of public sector cuts last month.
The council will decide how the savings will be made in a meeting on July 12. It is expected £1,535,000 will come from revenue and the remainder will be cut from the council’s highways grant.
But councillors will be asked to consider which services will be affected.
They are particularly concerned about Children and Young People’s service which the Government has slashed by £1,276,000.
Council Leader Janet Battye said: “We are already having to find £4.7m worth of savings based on the council’s budget set earlier this year and it feels really unfair that the people of Calderdale are now being asked to find yet more.”
Deputy Leader, Tim Swift added: “It doesn’t seem to make sense that we are being asked to make these changes now, especially given that many of the grant reductions are in areas that affect services to young people.
“We will of course consult with staff and trade unions to ensure that they are also a part of the hard decisions that will inevitably have to be taken.”
Earlier this year the council was looking at its highways budget.
Councillors were looking at proposals for spending £6.9m to maintain and improve Calderdale’s highways and transport network.
At the time the council has allocated £2.143 million for the maintenance and strengthening of highways structures, £2.519 million for the maintenance of carriageways and street lighting and £2.318 million for schemes to develop and promote an integrated approach to transport across Calderdale.
