Stoke & Staffordshire

Elizabeth Glinka, BBC Stoke Political Correspondent

Town Hall plans mean hundreds of job losses

The government's Spending Review plans mean Stoke-on-Trent City Council has to save £33m in the next year and lose 700 jobs, say council spokespeople.

The council has published the details on how it hopes to do that - outlining widespread cuts to services and jobs.

Negotiations between unions and management will now take place to establish a redundancies timetable.

Libraries and museums are marked for closure, as are drug-abuse and teenage pregnancy services.

See a detailed break-down of which posts and services are likely to go - further down this page.

Spending Review

The announcement follows the government's Spending Review on 20 October, which handed down cuts of more than 28% to local government.

Cuts proposals Children & Young People's Services - 240 jobs (£12.6m) Adult & Social Care - 160 jobs (£4.5m) Housing, Environment & Neighbourhood - 100 jobs (£2.5m) Chief Executive's Dept - 30 jobs (£2.3m) Central Services (admin, accounts etc) - 110 jobs (£7m) City Development (regeneration) - 70 jobs (£4.2m)

Under the City Council cabinet's scheme, the authority will lose 710 jobs, 14% of its workforce - along with cuts to all service areas, including children and young people, adult social care, regeneration, housing and administration.

Council Leader, Labour's Mohammed Pervez, said: "Given the extent of the government cuts...we have to ask the question 'what is this council in the business of providing?'".

Closures

Many services will need to attract private funding or face closure. They include respite care for sick children, seven of the city's 16 children's centres, the end of funding for Park Hall Golf Course and for the Stoke Recreation Centre.

Mobile libraries and the Burslem and Fenton libraries, along with the Etruria Industrial Museum, the City Farm in Bentilee and the swimming pools in Shelton and Tunstall will see their funding pulled.
It is now likely the Potteries Museum will start charging admission.

There are plans to introduce new car park charges on Sundays and reduce road maintenance, while bus prices will go up as subsidies are cancelled.

The City Council has also said it will not fund town or city centre Christmas lights after this year.

Difficult decisions

The council had been bracing itself for large cuts in services

Chief Executive John Van de Laarschot said: "There is no getting away from the fact the politicians are going to have to make difficult decisions to balance the budget."

It is not yet clear whether the council intends to raise council tax, which might enable them to retain some popular services. However, the government is encouraging authorities to cap council tax by offering them a 2.5% cash incentive.

There will now be public consultation on the plan, which must be approved and in place by April 2011.

Cuts proposed in Stoke-on-Trent - in detail

Extracts in quotes come from the city council's briefing document

Young People's Social Care

Loses one of 2 children's social worker managers, responsible for referrals (£46k)

End of weekend care at Weston Coyney Road children's respite centre (£50k) "This would put additional pressure on families and increase the probability of children coming into the care system...there is a high likelihood of parental complaints."

Reduce social worker training budget from £132k to £86k (£46k)

Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service staffing reduction (£400k) "...will have an impact on early intervention and placement moves for children."

End of contributions to Short Breaks for Disabled Children (£200k). These are funded by grants with PCT support.

End of Think Family grant for intervention where family breakdown is imminent (£588k)

End of funding to Youth Crime Action Plan (£350k)

Cut 2 of 5 Social Work Assistants, who assist with caseloads and risk monitoring (£53k)

End of funding to Teenage Pregnancy Support - 8 full-time posts (£200k)

End of funding for Stoke Challenge (£469k) "As a result the vulnerability of young people will increase significantly."

End of Young People's Drug Project (£127k) "There would be a serious impact on anti-social behaviour and a potential rise in drug related activity across the city."

Closure of 7 of 16 children's centres (£1.5m + £750k + £750k)

Cut 1 of 2 Quality Assurance posts for children's home / foster placements (£27k) "There is a risk of the quality of placements slipping, particularly where children are placed a long way away from Stoke..."

Cut 1 of 2 Placement Finding posts - for children in care (£25k)

Close 5 posts in the social worker Specialist Team which provide admin and support (£100k)

Close 2 of 10 posts for Social Workers (£76k)

Reduce £644k budget for Youth Development (£144k) "...reduction in capacity to deliver activities on Friday and Saturday nights, which could lead to increased anti-social behaviour."

End of funding for Child Death Review (£16k)

End of funding for Family Support Network, which targets families where previous intervention has failed (£232k)

Education

Lose 2.4 staff from Education Welfare Service (£84k) "Serious impact on pupil attendance, attainment and negative effect upon attendance figures (which have improved over the last two years)."

Close 9 posts among advisory teachers and support staff for children with Special Educational Needs (£327k)

End of bursaries for care leavers / children of foster carers (£106k)

Lose 1 of 3 Education Psychology Service posts (£66k) "Serious impact of services to young people with Special Educational Needs...vulnerability of young people will increase significantly."

Supporting graduate teachers and professional development (£364k)

End of funding for Stoke Speaks Out (£126k)

End of £807k of Universal Services funding for school improvement and curriculum development (£807k)

Lose almost 4 of 8 Access To Learning staff (£134k) "High risk of increased exclusions from [primary] schools."

End of funding for Stanley Head outdoor education centre (£92k)

Adult Social Care

Disposal of Heathside House care home (£500k)

Disposal of Eardley House care home (£569k)

Lose 42 of 99 posts in Home Care - providing outreach to those most in need (£1,003,000)

Agree a 0% inflation increase for private care homes (£250k)

End non-essential social care and health services (£188k)

Neighbourhood

CCTV monitoring reduced to 16 hours per day (£72k) "Losing the deterrent and intervention referral effect of CCTV will increase the level of offending and subsequent damage to private and public property."

CCTV monitoring reduced to 8 hours per day (£144k)

Option to scrap CCTV monitoring (£330k)

Outsource the Waste Collection Service (£ not known)

Cut 10 full-time parks maintenance staff (£187k)

Cut temporary grounds maintenance staff during summer (£339k)

Reduce £30k budget for plants in cemetery grounds and reception areas (£18k)

End of Sunday Market subsidy (£40k)

End of Christmas illuminations (£84k)

Cut £18k from £38k budget for replacing street-name signs (£18k)

Facilities

Close Meir Community & Education Centre (£72k)

Lose 3 of 10 public toilet cleaners (£67k)

Option to close public toilets completely (6 public toilets, 14 park toilets, 6 shower/changing rooms) (c £300k)

Libraries - reduced replenishment of book stock / less outreach work / fewer events (£175k)

Closure of mobile library service / Fenton Library / Burslem Library (£201k)

Closure of City Farm in Bucknall Park (£143k)

Transport

Transfer or sale of Shopmobility service (£40k)

Cut all subsidised bus fares (£370k)

End Dial-A-Ride service (£46k) "Loss of access for people who cannot use public transport and who do not have access to a car - 235 current members."

Charge bus operators for bus-stop timetable information (£5k)

Increase residents' parking permit from £20 to £52 per annum (£32k)

Cut £94k of funding for pothole repair (£94k)

Cut £40k from £120k for bridge maintenance (£40k) "...will have to be left to deteriorate to a worse condition than they are currently."

Close multi-storey car parks from 6pm / stop evening parking enforcement (£ not known)

Introduce parking charges on Sundays (£200k) "There may be a perceived impact on local economies."

Replacing lost bus passes - 1329 lost in 2009-2010 (£4k)

Culture

Transfer or sale of Ford Green Hall (£56k for 2 staff)

Introduce charging at Potteries Museum and Art Gallery (£73k) "An estimated 40% to 70% reduction in visitors."

Transfer or sale of Etruria Industrial Museum (£117k) "Loss of city's heritage and facilities...loss of visitors: 18,823 per annum"

End of council subsidy to Ceramica (£150k)

Leisure

Closure of Park Hall Golf Course and Stoke Recreation Centre (£98k)

Transfer or sale of Northwood Stadium / possible closure of sports facilities (£103k)

Partial closure of Northwood Stadium during daytime and weekend afternoon/evenings (£63k)

Close Willfield Fitness Centre in Bentilee (£208k)

Closure of Shelton Pool and Tunstall Pool (£162k)

Regeneration

End £40k annual service agreement with Urban Vision (£40k)

End subsidy to Groundwork (£40k)

Lose 16 of 41 Regeneration Staff (£461k) "High likelihood of achieving, [with] low business impact."

Restructure of NSRP (Regeneration) management team (£365k)

Council

Reduce council's fleet of vehicles from 150 to 87 (£ not known)

Lose 8 of 22 Communications Officers and Assistants (£360k)

Close Head of Procurement post (£111k)

Lose 2 of 5 Civil Enforcement Officers (£25k)

Share Waste Service Depot with Newcastle-under-Lyme (£ not known)

Lose 14 of 30 posts in Ground Maintenance Management team (£170k)

Lose additional 5 posts in Ground Maintenance team (£170k)

Remove 6 Civil Enforcement Team - to become car park attendants on lower pay grade (£30k)

End timetabled cleaning of council buildings - call cleaners in when required (£290k)

Lose 4.5 of 13 catering staff following reduction of internal refreshments and buffets (£58k)

Merge security and building managers of Civic Centre and Town Hall into single team (£100k)

Improvement of procurement of supplies (£1.5 million)

Close 3 vacant Accountancy posts (£100k)

Close 5 posts in Property Services (£225k)

Lose 3.5 of 15 Performance Service posts (£150k)

Lose £129k from Chief Executive's £1.4m budget for anti-social behaviour (£129k)

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