Councils urged to cut waste, not services

There was much discussion at this week's Audlem Parish Council meeting about the threatened loss of local Cheshire East-provided services such as the public toilets, grass cutting of the football field and verges, and much else.

Already the village has had to take on responsibility for Day Care, at a considerable saving to Cheshire East council compared with the cost of provision by the previous provider, Age Concern.

With cuts to many council services threatened across the country – the Chronicle has reported many in Nantwich under threat while Shropshire is closing its public toilets – it seems the Government is keen to ensure other council costs are cut rather than front-line services.

Middle managementEric Pickles, the Local Government Secretary, is to order councils to publicly list those council staff earning over £58,000 a year and detail their responsibilities. It is understood, says a national newspaper, that councils should focus on "middle management waste" before scrapping front-line services such as the closure of libraries, a squeeze on social care and a refusal to fill in pot holes.

Official figures show that council spending on middle managers is more than £2.4 billion, a rise of more than 20% in the past three years.

It is reported that the average local authority now employs 81 people earning more than £50,000 a year while £58,000 is the level at which a public official is deemed a senior civil servant.

Eric Pickles says: "Transparency must be the underlying principal behind everything councils do. Every aspect of council business should be open to public scrutiny including top money, middle management, councillor expenses, audit results... – it can help save money in tough times, protecting front-line services by cutting unnecessary costs.

ExplosionA Whitehall source went on to say: "There has been an explosion in local authority middle management. In many cases it's not clear what these people do or how they provide value for money. Getting rid of bloated bureaucracy will, in many instances, help councils protect front-line services."

The newspaper reports that the number of council middle managers has risen eleven-fold in the past decade, almost four times the increase in the private sector which has seen a trebling of middle management.

Audlem Online will be reporting shortly on front-line services threatened in Audlem, starting on Monday with the public toilets on the car park, a vital facility for the many visitors to the village.

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