Norfolk County Council to shed 3,000 jobs
The 3,000 jobs will go at Norfolk County Council over the next four years
They give us a glimpse into the future - a future where local authorities are more slimmed down.
Every council in the region is looking to cut its budget by 25% following the Spending Review. Norfolk is the first to come out with detailed proposals but you can be sure that nearly every other other authority is thinking along the same lines.
Norfolk believes that to find cuts of 25% it can't just salami slice. It needs to completely restructure and do away with some services altogether.
It accepts that a local authority must always provide the essential services, so the roads will still be maintained and it must help the most vulnerable, so children will still be taken into care and the elderly looked after.
Everything else is up for debate.
Norfolk County Council Deputy Leader Ian Mackie says exceptional times demand an exceptional response
It'll do far less in the countryside - clear fewer footpaths and not cut back hedgerows so often.
There'll be fewer staff working in the county's museums and libraries too and their opening hours will be reduced, so less access for you and me.
There'll be fewer grants to local arts groups, fewer regular rural bus services (but more flexibuses to help the most needy get into town), no more park-and-ride subsidy and fewer school crossing patrols.
Grants to help teenage mothers set up home will probably be done away with. So too will grants to help parents with lower incomes buy school uniform.
These are only proposals for now - although they are likely to be implemented in full.
For the next three months the council will run what it's calling "a Big Conversation". It wants people in Norfolk to tell it which services it should be providing and which can be jettisoned.
Those services which remain will be radically overhauled. There will be fewer back office staff, some services will be shared with other authorities and others will be outsourced.
Three thousand jobs will go over the next four years. The council estimates that 1,700 of them will transfer with the services to the private sector. It hopes many of the remaining 1,300 will go through natural wastage but it accepts that many real people will lose their jobs.
"Exceptional times demand an exceptional response," says Deputy Leader Ian Mackie. "Only a fundamental reform of what the county council does, and the way in which it does it, will do."
Local authorities were originally established to provide services for everyone in society. With money tighter than ever before it looks like those days are coming to an end.
Welcome to the political blog for the East. I'm Deborah McGurran, the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Political Editor for the region. From Lowestoft to Luton, this is the place for politics with an eastern twist.
Comment number 1.
At 27th Oct 2010, Current-Affairs wrote:It's swings and roundabouts at the end of the day - that many jobs over four years does seem daunting, but that's just long enough for other companies to start making some headway. It's the same sort of time frame until thousands more jobs will be available in .
I'm sure there's going to be some offset with the difference in locations, but at large we're doing what we can to cover. It's going to get better in 10 years or 50.. cuts are going to happen and there's little we can do about it unless we want to bring the country to turmoil (looking at you here, France).
Chins up, everyone. We'll get there.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)
Comment number 2.
At 27th Oct 2010, john wrote:So there it is - the poorest kids will go to school in patched clothing and probably decrepit footwear - immediately singling them out as poor and as such objects of ridicule from those who are 'better off ' . Great start to one's life being discriminated against .
Live in the country ? get the bus to work - forget it . Possibly lose job and then later any benefits because you can't afford the exorbitant fares charged by privatised transport companies . Every country in Europe knows the value of cheap reliable public transport except the British.
Reduce the availability of cultural and educational opportunities so only those who can afford it get the benefit of them - designed to foster educational elitism based on wealth .
I'm sorry Current-Affairs but you are living in a fantasy world if you believe the slack will be taken up by private sector employers . Remember the other day when Cameron was almost grovelling at the CBI pleading for the creation of new jobs , some of these delegates were representing companies which were actively shedding labour , the retail sector was down again - however I notice you believe that things won't get better for the next 10 - 50 years . That being so we will all have to cut back - no new cars, tv's , broadband,computers and so on , the list becomes quite extensive as the country spirals out of control into a depression in which only the wealthy ( Cameron and Osbourne and their ilk ) will come through unscathed . Looking on the bright side this could be the beginning of the death knell for that dinosaur ' free market economics' as people begin to realise they are worth more than just an entry in a ledger .
Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)
Comment number 3.
At 12th Dec 2010, Den60 wrote:The public in Norfolk need to be made aware of the impact of Norfolk County Councils cuts, this needs to be done quickly as it ends on 10th January 2011.
There will be a massive impact to all of our services, Norman Lamb should stand up against the cuts.
If he does not then he should stand down as our MP!
Any person who agree's please let the ´óÏó´«Ã½ and Norman know!!!!!!!!
Complain about this comment (Comment number 3)