Golden boroughs - Ipswich

It's not often that this blog has good things to say about our local politicians, so this is like bat's piss -  a little shaft of gold gleaming in the darkness.

Much has been trumpetted about how it's just not possible for local authorities to make the require cuts without them seriously impacting front line services. Well, I think that's bollocks, and apparently so do Ipswich Borough Council. And they are prepared to prove it!

On February 23rd, the council will meet to approve a 1% cut in council tax for the 2011/12 financial year. Not only that, it's going to do it again next year whist at the same time taking £3m out of it's budget. So how exactly is it going to do this?

Unveiling his budget proposals, Councillor Carnall insisted that Borough Council leaders had been "sensibly chipping away" at its budget for many years and that continuing this programme by slashing senior management costs and working with a variety of partners would mean "more for less" for council tax-payers.

Over the next 12 months, £2.1 million will be cut from Borough spending by a large number of proposed measures, including:

• Not replacing one Corporate Director and a Head of Service (£172,000 savings per year)
• Appointing a Chief Executive on a lower salary (£30,000 savings - Suffolk County Council take note!)
• Sub-letting part of its Grafton House HQ to another organisation (£100,000 income in the first year and more in the second year)
• Working with a community group at Whitton Sports Centre (£70,000 savings)
• Working with Babergh and Mid Suffolk councils on providing a more efficient benefits and revenues service
• Permanently removing a number of vacant posts across the Council
• Letting a small part of the Corn Exchange to a private company
• Introducing a new £240,000 per year budget for Councillors to have their own locality budgets (£5,000 each) for them to invest as they see fit in their local communities

The Borough Council will use just over half of its reserves (£2.4 million) over the next two years to ensure the delivery of high quality services in not interrupted. "These reserves are meant to cover us in a rainy day - and if this is not a rainy day for public finances I don't know what is", said Councillor Carnall.

The rain is indeed falling, but what I want to know is if Ipswich can do this, why the fuck can't everyone else?

And in case you are wondering, the composition of the council is Labour 23, Conservative 18, LibDem 7 - so it should be an interesting meeting!

(You can read more on the council website by clicking here)