South Wales Evening Post - 30 December 2008
Jobs and services face the axe as Swansea Council struggles to balance its books amid the economic turmoil.
In a bleak new year message, authority leader Chris Holley warned of tough times ahead for people who work for the council — and those who rely on its services.
Councillor Holley said there was no avoiding the economic downturn and its effects, and that everyone needed to "face the reality" of the current situation.
"Every day there's another report on the TV or in the newspaper of jobs being lost," he said.
"The closure of Woolworths and fears for the future of Linamar on Fabian Way will have a major effect on the local economy.
"Workers at Corus are facing lower production and possibly reduced salaries as the company tries to manage the fall in demand for steel.
"And these are just the stories that we know about. There are many other shops, factories and offices which are forced to cut their workforce and are not making the headlines. There isn't a person or organisation that is immune from this recession. Swansea Council is no different from households and companies, we are all tightening our belts to try to cope with rising costs and falling income."
The council is facing a £14 million funding black hole between what it wants to spend, and the money it receives from the Assembly.
Each department has been required to look at ways of shaving four per cent off its budget over the coming 12 months — but Councillor Holley warned that efficiency savings alone wouldn't be enough.
"We have to review our services to ensure we provide those services which are needed," he said.
"Social services, education, roads and bin collections are probably top of most people's lists.
"But there are so many other things we do which would have a detrimental effect on families if we stopped doing them.
"We have to grapple with the issue of how to maintain services while also balancing our books.
These are not easy decisions."
And Councillor Holley said that in an organisation which provides a wide range of services and employs a lot of people, the spectre of job cuts loomed large.
He said: "In this difficult period, when very few people are not feeling the uncertainty of the times, we don't want to add to people's pain.
"But at the same time, we can't hide from the fact that staffing accounts for more than 70 per cent of our costs.
"It is inevitable we will have to reduce the number of people we employ, not only to lower our costs but also to reflect the changes in services which will be forced upon us to balance the books.
We are striving to avoid compulsory redundancies, but the current climate is unprecedented in our lifetimes and we cannot predict what will happen during the next couple of years."
