2:00pm Tuesday 27th July 2010
By Jen Rivett
WEST Oxfordshire District Council’s benefits department faces a shake up after cost-cutting plans were given the go ahead.
Councillors have decided to merge its benefits service with Cotswold District Council.
The merger means two jobs from the department have been cut – saving the council £76,369. The two posts were managerial and both people took voluntary redundancy.
Currently, 38 people work in the department, plus three apprentice posts.
The service administers council tax for some 43,000 properties and business rates for 4,000 companies. It also hands out housing and council tax benefit for 5,500 claimants.
The plans include sharing a head of service, which would save each council £26,000. This job was filled in April.
Frank Wilson, the council’s strategic director of resources, said: “Residents will be unaffected by this change and the proposals will ensure that the high standard of performance currently being achieved in council tax, business rates and benefits will continue.
“In 2009/10 council tax collection was fifth best in the country.
“This will ensure that the service performance does not suffer as a consequence of the staffing cuts and the sharing of specialist officers will ensure service resilience which is extremely difficult without a sharing arrangement.”
An IT link providing joint access to the revenue and benefits system went live in June, and the two teams from West Oxfordshire and the Cots-wolds met for the first time at the beginning of July.
In December, the district council announced it was working towards a proposal for a new computer super-system, which would be shared with up to seven neighbouring councils in Gloucestershire.
The project – called Gloucester Oxfordshire-7 (GO-7) – is predicted to save up to £160,000 a year, per council.
The money-saving move has been attributed to Government cuts.
Mr Wilson said: “The council’s income from investments has fallen significantly due to the fall in interest rates – it used this income to keep council tax the second lowest in the country.
“Furthermore, income in respect of planning fees, land searches and building control fees has fallen due to the recession in the house building sector and all of these factors have left the council with a significant shortfall in its income.”
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