Wakefield Council to discuss £38m worth of cuts

Wakefield Council is expected to rubber stamp plans to slash jobs and cut £38m worth of funding to public services at a meeting today (Monday).
Wakefield Town HallWakefield Town Hall
Wakefield Town Hall

Its cabinet agreed to send a budget report to a meeting of the full council at Wakefield County Hall this afternoon.

The report proposes cuts of £20m from the adult care budget and £5m from services for children and young people.

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Up to another 100 jobs are expected to be lost during the next year - on top of the 1,400 predicted in last year’s budget.

So far 1,000 staff have already lost jobs as part of the proposals.

Council leader Peter Box said the council was no longer able to protect frontline services, as the central government funding cuts had now ‘crossed the line between efficiency savings and cuts.’

A rise of just under two per cent in council tax is also proposed.

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It had previously been frozen in 2011/12 and 2012/13, which Coun Box said had cost the council £12m.

Coun Box said: “It’s going to be tremendously difficult over the next year. I think people will now notice the effect on services.

“In the past we have tried to make sure we are efficient and we have tried to minimise the effect on frontline services because people rely on them day in, day out.

“But the point has been reached where people will now see their services impacted.”

Coun Box said the authority was facing cuts of more than £100m by 2020. The budget would also see £57m spent on the district’s roads and street lighting and £44m on schools.

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