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Reporting local life since 1854 37p Tuesday, October 4, 2011 SEN-eO1-S2 [P] [P] Two-year tax freeze pledge A TORY-RUN council last night revealed it is freezing council tax rates for two years. Staffordshire County Council is believed to be the first in the country to confirm it will not increase tax bills next year. And it has also committed to freezing council tax in 2013/14, regardless of Government incentives. The announcement follows Chancellor George Osborne’s confirmation of an £805 million national cash pot to ensure councils freeze bills for another year. Mohammed Pervez, the leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council has said: “Whilst no decision has been made we will consider the Gover nment’s offer very carefully.” Cheshire East Council has not decided on tax for next year. More parking spaces in town A FORMER supermarket car park is to be re-opened in time for the Christmas shopping season to help ease the pressure on parking spaces in Newcastle town centre. But only the surface level car park at the former Sainsbury’s site, off the A34, will be used for the new pay- and-display facilities. The neighbouring multi-storey car park will remain off limits to motorists due to safety issues. The surface car park is expected to re-open in early November. See Letters: Pages 8&9 350 MORE JOBS TO GO AT COUNCIL Staff cut to help balance the budget BY ALEX CAMPBELL [email protected] AT LEAST 350 more job cuts are being planned at Stoke-on-Trent City Council as the authority battles to save up to a further £25 million. Consultation with unions and employees is expected to start next month over the next wave of civic centre redundancies. The Sentinel understands council chief executive John van de Laarschot has informed some staff that between 350 and 500 more jobs will be shed in the latest cost-cutting measures. About 800 staff have already lost their jobs in 2011/12 as the council tried to save almost £36 million over a 12-month period. Those losses sparked redund- ancy payouts of more than £11 million. A council insider told The Sen- tinel: “The chief executive has been holding meetings with staff to talk about the situation. “He told them 500 more jobs could go.” The exact amount the author- ity will have to cut from the budget in 2012/13 will not be confirmed until the Government finalises its financial settle- ment. But finance chiefs are already predicting a £4.5 million over- spend in 2011/12, because of a failure to implement all of the cuts and below-expected income. Latest figures show 1,080 work- ers have left the council since April 2009; 833 through volun- tary redundancy, 213 through compulsory redundancy and 34 through early retirement. Most of the redund- ancies came in adult and neighbourhood, and children and young people’s service depart- ments, leaving 5,433 full and part- time employees at the end of June. Councillor Dave Conway, leader of the opposition City Independents, said he has been contacted by two members of staff who have been informed of the possible 500 redundancies. He added: “The council is down to its bare knuckles already. “The work is still going to be there even if the jobs are not. “My worry is that absenteeism through stress will increase because our officers are going to be under a huge amount of pres- sure. “Every year there seems to be another re-organisation. “It wouldn’t be so bad if there were jobs out there, but there is nothing.” Council officials today con- firmed consultation would be held with unions and staff. Mr van de Laarschot said: “To achieve the level of savings which need to be made by the city council in the next financial year we potentially either need to make changes to our services or reduce our salary budget. “It's early days for our ideas, and it is all subject to consulta- tion with unions and employ- ees.” Council leader Councillor Mohammed Pervez said: “We have started the process of identifying savings for next year. “Once again, we are faced with very difficult decisions. “No final decisions have been made but it is fair to say that job cuts are likely.” Trade union Unison was unavailable for comment. Do you fear for your job at the city council? Email us at letters@ thesentinel.co.uk 2-FOR-1 PANTO TICKETS TOKEN COLLECT: PAGE 16 ‘CLOSING SURGERY IS STUPID’ SEE PAGE 7 HOTEL BREAKS FOR ONLY £14.50pp CO U P O N CO L L E CT : PAGE 6 ©NM Sponsors of Miss Staffordshire Miss England 2011 Stafford Street, Hanley Opposite Wilkinson’s Tel. 01782 286006 www.hair-and-co.com Vidal Sassoon Trained Stylists kumon.co.uk *Enrol your child between 1 September & 31 October 2011 for a two-week Free Trial and begin your Kumon journey. Begin your Kumon journey Maximise your child’s development with Kumon’s tailored maths and English study programmes. Newcastle-under-Lyme Clare Bainbridge 01782 519788 Stoke-on-Trent Bret Shah 01782 744387 Fees vary. Please refer to your local study centre. *Terms & conditions apply. Contact your local Instructor today
