Why are we waiting?

A financial position statement was discussed at Cabinet today, delivering more bad news about the state of the council’s finances.

Group Leader Roger Harmer raised several points about the pace of change, the need for service redesign, the council’s lack of project management capability.

“I welcomed the receipt of a timeline in today’s report as we can now see the decision-making process that should lead this council to making a lawful budget.

“However, I am concerned to see an absence of measures to consult with residents on the decisions being made. We are all under no illusion that difficult decisions will need to be made, but we owe it to our residents to offer choices, wherever possible.”

“As any good tailor knows, you measure twice and cut once. If we are going to make the cuts needed to get council finances back in shape, then decisions need to be scrutinised not just by the council internally, but by the public who are after all, our customers. We must ensure that there is robust community engagement.”

“I remain concerned about the pace of action. A third of a year has passed since we were advised of Oracle and Equal Pay calamities. It is now mid-November, and we are still talking about making savings Let’s be clear, we can’t salami slice our way out of this. Council services are going to need a complete overhaul.”