MK and Bucks cuts after Spending Review

21 October 2010, 17:57 | Updated: 21 October 2010, 18:11

The belt tightening begins in Milton Keynes and across Bucks as police and public bodies seek to live in straightened times.

Sam Crooks, Deputy Leader of Milton Keynes Council told heart "I think the best way to put it - is it's a slight worsening of our position, but it's a manageable. We think we're about a £1m worse off on our revenue budget (day-to-day spending), but we're also around £1m worse off on our capital expenditure - which for a growing city is very worrying.

We were modelling around 25% cuts, but after the Comprehensive Spending Review, we now know it's more likely to be 27% - and that means we'll have to look for savings of around £64m over 4 years."

MK Council is evaluating potential job-cuts, it could lead to 600 positions being lost.

David Shakespeare, Leader of Buckinghamshire County Council said: "I appreciate there has been a great deal of interest ahead of the Coalition Government's much-anticipated spending review. This is a significant review, which will continue the job of tackling Labour's legacy of an unprecedented national deficit. The last Government ran up huge debts on our behalf and the amount of money we have all got to pay back is simply frightening.

"There will be implications for us all, but today's announcement will have touched on the headline figures only. It will take weeks and months to drill down and fully understand how this review will impact on Buckinghamshire residents, and as this information becomes available we will be keeping people informed. At Buckinghamshire we have not had our heads in the sand but have been planning for bad news through greater efficiencies and cuts we've made in our budgets. In the meantime, we will press ahead with our budget, planning prudently and always in the best interests of our taxpayers."

BCC is looking at the implications of having £31m less to spend over the next three years. Taking into account the £9.2m cut in August's Emergency Budget, which addressed service pressures and a reduction in the County's Government-funded Area Based Grant, and £52m already saved through efficiencies and Transformation,  the County's total budget reduction over a 4-year period will reach £93m.