To plug £75m council deficit, 1500 jobs must go.
The devastating impact of the Government’s spending cuts has become apparent as a West council leader announced 1500 job losses to plug a £75 million deficit.
The vast majority of planned building projects will be stopped. Two thirds of the 60 county-owned farms are likely to be sold. One town library will close temporarily later this month and six others face a temporary cut in hours pending discussions with focus groups about how the service can be provided. But unions have criticised the authority for exacerbating the dire financial situation by refusing to increase council tax next year.
Halting building work means there will be no new £8m school in Yeovil to replace the aging Grass Royal, Reckleford and Pen Mill schools. The planned £6m pedestrianisation of Taunton town centre is also shelved, as is a £300,000 scheme to convert a GP surgery in Castle Cary into a children’s centre.
Councillor Ken Maddock said,
We have a debt level in this county council of more than £350 million, with projections that it will reach £400 million before it can come down. Servicing that debt is our second biggest bill, not financing roads, not looking after vulnerable people, not improving schools, but debt.
Total losses = 1500
Source: This is Somerset
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