EVERY aspect of daily life in the county is now in the shadow of the axe as the full extent of Herefordshire Council’s proposed cuts for 2013/14 is revealed this week.
The cuts identified by the council’s root and branch review programme slash at the likes of library opening hours, school transport, care for the elderly and disabled, regular rubbish and recycling collections, and culture and leisure subsidies.
Services for children and young people are hit particularly hard with the review programme proposing big cuts to early years support and school improvement services, the closure or transfer of youth centres, and reductions in what is offered through children’s centres.
Also pitched is the “sale” of Hoople, the company set up to provide public sector support services, independent governance of the Countryside Service, and collaborating – or even integrating – with other councils on services such as social care, highways and education.
Senior management ranks will be thinned out and the diversity, community safety, and emergency planning departments are identified for job losses.
The root and branch review is a key element of the council’s 2013/14 budget and medium term financial strategy, which has to factor in huge year-on-year losses in operational funding from central government.
Cuts identified in the review are expected to save just over £9m with the sum helping cover a budget shortfall that – as previously revealed by the Hereford Times – totals £10m this year alone, caused by a £5.5m slash in central government funding and another £4.5m lost from other external sources.
Ideas from the wider public, invited through the “Make Your Own Cuts” initiative launched last month, do not yet feature in the plan.
