Rural bus subsidies could be cut completely and the county's rogue trader taskforce halved as part of latest Northamptonshire cuts

Bus subsidies, libraries, roads gritting and Trading Standards all set for cuts as part of £9.6 million savings announced by Northamptonshire County Council today.
Councillor Heather Smith has revealed another round of stinging cuts at Northamptonshire County Council.Councillor Heather Smith has revealed another round of stinging cuts at Northamptonshire County Council.
Councillor Heather Smith has revealed another round of stinging cuts at Northamptonshire County Council.

The authority is set to approve starting consultation on the latest round of cutbacks at its cabinet meeting on Thursday.

However, the measures, which will come into action from the next financial year, are only a prelude to a far greater series of cuts due to be announced in December.

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The budget savings due to be discussed by cabinet this week include a review of Northamptonshire libraries, changes to the highways maintenance programme, a reduction in funding for Trading Standards and Corby children’s centres, and the removal of bus subsidies.

Councillor Danielle Stone.Councillor Danielle Stone.
Councillor Danielle Stone.

County council leader Councillor Heather Smith (Con, Oundle) said: “There is no denying that there are difficult decisions to be made, and the proposals we have before us will undoubtedly have an impact on local communities.

"Therefore, what we are looking to do with some of these proposals is gauge what role local communities themselves could have in the running of these services.

“Like all public sector organisations in Northamptonshire, we are finding it increasingly difficult to protect frontline services and, without an increase in government funding, we are faced with no choice but to review some of our discretionary services as we work to deliver a balanced budget.”

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The proposals due to be discussed by cabinet this week also include savings achieved by converting children’s services agency workers into permanent staff, removing the empowering councillors fund and reducing the council's spend on consultant fees.

Councillor Danielle Stone.Councillor Danielle Stone.
Councillor Danielle Stone.

Highways services could take a big hit under the proposals, however.

The council will consider whether to reduce all of the subsidies it pays to public transport in the county, including bus routes in rural areas.

This will also include the money it pays towards Call Connect and County Connect services.

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The council will also look at strimming £475,000 from its winter gritting schedule by reducing the amount of roads it treats by 11 per cent.

It could also greatly reduce the amount of maintenance - such as weed-killing - carried out on the side of roads.

The county's Trading Standards department, which enforces illegal tobacco sales and clamps down on rogue traders, is in line to have its workforce slashed by half.

Opposition councillor Danielle Stone (Lab, Abington and Phiippsville) - who has backed our campaign for fairer funding in Northamptonshire - said the cuts show Northamptonshire's MPs need to be doing more to attract funding to Northamptonshire.

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"Much of the county is fairly rural and so the removal of all remaining bus subsidies is going to be damaging for those who will have to dig deeper in their pockets for the higher fares," she said. "Trading Standards do a great job but this service is going to be put at risk as almost half its staff could be made redundant soon.

"When you think the whole of Northamptonshire is represented by Conservative MPs, what have they done to get us a fairer funding deal? The Secretary of State of Local Government, Savid Javid, came to visit last week but the administration didn’t get a single penny from it.”

The Cabinet meeting will take place at 2pm on Thursday at County Hall.

To sign our petition calling for fairer Government funding for Northamptonshire, click here.