Council staff to get two year pay freeze

Nov 30 2009 By Tammy Hughes

Runnymede Council is to impose a two year pay freeze on staff as part of plans to cut spending by more than £250,000.

The move is one of several measures aimed at saving £850,000 and councillors have been warned that unless the cuts are made swiftly the Runnymede's working balances would dry up by 2011.

During a meeting on Thursday, in which budget cuts were discussed in detail, Councillor Patrick Roberts said: "It is an extremely difficult time. We have pared the apple and pared the apple. It isn’t easy to find more."

In order to claw back the necessary funds the council has said they will have to introduce a two year wage freeze, a five per cent increase in council tax, a sharing of administrative services with neighbouring councils, and appointing a new manager to review services.

Councillors attending the Corporate Management Committee meeting on Thursday were told by Runnymede's chief executive Paul Turrell that the outlook was bleak.

He said funds have been hit by a number of things including the recession, reduced government grants and depletion of reserve funds, due to the strain of maintaining low council tax for residents.

Mr Turrell added: "In terms of the national picture it is looking quite grim. Locally there are continuing pressures on our income. There is a clear expectation on the part of central government for efficiency savings.

"At this moment we have identified the savings that are required of £850,000. Urgent action is required to address the situation. My analysis is that there is little capacity for business change."

Some authorities are bringing in external consultants to recommend ways of trimming costs but Mr Turrell said that Runnymede wanted to appoint a new £60,000 a year Business Transition Manager as this was likely to be a cheaper option.

The council aims to have completed the review of services by May next year so that savings are reflected in the budget for 2011/12.

He said that the current policy of matching pay increases to national awards was unsustainable.

"Clearly in the current circumstances we need some flexibility to take forward efficiencies. The only way to do this is to instigate a pay freeze. It seems that other local authorities are likely to do this too."

The council is currently in talks with UNISON over the issue. The union is seeking a two per cent increase.

"In my view it is wholly unrealistic to award a pay increase of two per cent. The savings of that are £250,000. This is the sort of sum we need to save before we make the efficiency savings."

He suggested that councillors may want to consider protecting the wages of the lowest paid staff.

Councillor Patrick Roberts said: "It is an extremely difficult time. We have pared the apple and pared the apple. It isn’t easy to find more. "

Councillor Alan Alderson said: "On pay, if it is possible to do something for those who are lowest paid we would like to do that."

Councillor Geoffrey Woodger said: "We ought to look at the lowest paid. The cost of living in so much greater in this area that we ought to try to assist them."

Councillor John Edwards said: "A pay freeze is a lot better than compulsory redundancies."

The proposals will go before the full council for approval on December 17.