Further job cuts and new models for delivering local services are on the cards in Cornwall in a bid to save £196m over the next four years.
The council has embarked on a two-month consultation involving 20 public meetings in order to gather feedback on its proposals.
It warned all areas of the council would be affected by the cutbacks but that it would protect three priority areas – services for the most vulnerable in society, public transport, and road repairs and maintenance.
Its savings proposals include further restructuring of staff and ‘the transfer of staff to new models of delivery and arm’s length companies’. The council plans to devolve £34m of services to town and parish councils and community groups – including libraries – and develop new ways to deliver integrated health and social care services.
Cornwall Council Leader John Pollard said the intention was to ‘build a resilient and sustainable Cornwall and not simply reduce the services we provide’.
He said: ‘Our commitment is to create a leaner, more resourceful organisation that delivers essential council services in the most efficient and effective way. This also means having the courage to make some extremely difficult decisions.’
Cornwall is urging the Government to change the way councils are funded, highlighting the fact that if it was given the same funding per head as Hackney it would receive an extra £48m a year.
Alex Folkes, cabinet member for finance and resources, said the council had identified £30m of savings through a ‘radical restructure of senior management’ and had cut the use of consultants and agency staff by 59%.
‘We are looking to work much more closely with the rest of the public sector and the voluntary and community sector,’ he said. ‘We will be seeking to integrate our services and to share support functions and buildings wherever possible. But we know that front line services will also be hit and so we have worked with elected members, with partners and with the public to understand where they feel savings can be made and which services should be protected.’
