Oxfordshire County Council votes through 'destructive' cuts & 500 jobs cull (From Oxford Mail)

Oxfordshire County Council votes through 'destructive' cuts & 500 jobs cull

7:46pm Tuesday 9th February 2010 in

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OPPOSITION councillors branded Oxfordshire County Council’s 2010-11 budget “destructive”, as cuts of more than £100m were voted through at County Hall today.

The council’s ruling Conservative group approved proposals to make £103.8m of savings over the next five years, although £72m of that figure will be ploughed back into other services.

Up to 500 jobs will be shed over the five year period, but the Tories insisted they had done their best for the county by ring-fencing money for key services.

They voted through the lowest council tax increase in more than a decade, which means Oxfordshire householders will only face a rise of 2.75 per cent in the county council’s share of the bill from April.

The authority has also pledged to freeze the tax for the following two years, in line with the Conservatives’ election platform.

The tax increase means an average Band D household will pay £1,161.71 for the council’s share of the tax bill, an increase of £31.09 a year, or £2.59 a month, from 2009-10 bills.

Other moves approved at yesterday’s full council meeting included increasing parking permit fees in Oxford by £10, requiring outdoor education centres to be self-financing and freezing councillors’ allowances.

Savings will also be made in the council’s youth service and buildings maintenance budgets.

Mark Fysh, the council’s branch secretary of the union Unison, said it was considering balloting members for strike action next year if plans to remove £1m from the council’s home care support budget in 2011 go ahead, although the council has insisted front-line services would not be affected.

Some opposition councillors mocked the Conservative administration’s mantra of “low tax, real choice and value for money”.

Green group leader Larry Sanders said: “This is a very destructive budget, it’s bad for the economy of the county.

“You can’t take 500 jobs out of the council and all the money that brings in for people without having a negative effect.”

Oxford Labour councillor John Tanner said: “This budget has no choice, higher taxes and low value for money.”

Carterton South West Conservative councillor Pete Handley said: “We’re going to make almost £105m in savings. Can we say hand on heart that’s not going to affect anybody? I support this budget with a heavy heart.”

Council leader Keith Mitchell said: “We set this budget in the context of a national position where the country is £800bn in debt and the Government is deciding to delay a comprehensive spending review, increasing the uncertainty over what we face.

“Whatever Government we have after the next election will be cutting public spending.

“We need to set a budget that recognises the inevitability of that public spending squeeze.”