MK Council Faces Cuts

21 September 2010, 14:22

Milton Keynes Council has announced it plans to save £48m over the next three years.

The Council says the savings will come from reducing staff numbers and improving value for money across its services.

It currently employs 2,500 staff and has a net budget of around £200m per year. This announcement comes on top of savings of £10.3m already saved in the current financial year.

The plan means that 200 jobs would go per year over the three years. The Council says these jobs haven't yet been indentified as they haven't worked out which services will need to be changed or indeed stopped altogether.

On top of that the Council say its "reviewing current ways of working and changes will include restructures and service redesign and increases in charges."

Sam Crooks, Cabinet Member responsible for Finance said, “These are challenging times as the Council is faced with a substantial reduction in funding from central Government as well as delivering existing efficiency targets and seeking to protect essential services for the community. We will be announcing in December what functions the Council should reduce or stop, and any emerging proposals will require consultation with service users and staff.  We are committed to minimising the impact on the most vulnerable groups and individuals.”

This announcement comes ahead of the Governments Comprehensive Spending Review which is due in October.