“We are at a point now where it’s not what we can save, it’s what we have to shut”

Senior councillors were today challenged over proposed cuts to local services – with members of the public due to have their say on how Wrexham Council should make savings of £13 million.

Wrexham Council should be opening the consultation for you to have your say inside the next 24 hours, however in the Executive Board meeting a preview of likely forthcoming battles over cuts and blame for the cuts took place.

Since 2008 Wrexham Council have made £52 million of cuts, with £18 million of those being undertaken in the past five years.

Wrexham Council are now calling on the public to help them decide how to make financial savings of £13 million over the next two years.

Over the past few days Wrexham.com have reported on some of the proposed service cuts, including to school music service, library service, PCSO funding and demolishing or selling Crown Buildings.

Speaking at this morning’s meeting, Lead member for Communities, Partnerships, Public Protection and Community Safety, Cllr Hugh Jones emphasised that the report presented to councillors was a consultation document, rather than a decision on the 2018/19 budget.

Cllr Jones said: “It is what it says on the can. It is called ‘Difficult Decisions’ as it is precisely that, it is difficult decisions.

“The deeper we cut the more difficult it becomes.

“In recent years we have carried out efficiency savings, restructuring, back office office functions to the bone, all in an attempt to protect front line services.

“We are still trying to achieve more efficiencies. We are at a point where we have no option but to cut our services, those that are at the front line which residents and citizens depend on. No one in this room came into local government to do this.

“The reality is as a result of cuts to our funding, we have to cut our budget. We have no option.”

He added: “We are asking the people of Wrexham to put themselves in our place. What would you do faced with £13 million of cuts?”

“It is important it reaches the broadest section of society. Any publicity I welcome, and I hope it will ensure all people in Wrexham have an opportunity to participate.”

In a debate lasting almost two hours in a very hot Guildhall chamber, opposition councillors challenged the Executive Board on the proposals and called for more cost saving options to be put forward.

Cllr Marc Jones noted that the proposals put forward identified only £4.5 million in savings, rather than the £6.2 million required.

He added: “Given we have to set a legal requirement to set a budget, does the board intend to make up a shortfall in another way?

“I want to see other options. If we’re serious about making savings, everything needs to be on the table.

“I don’t see councillors taking a cut. I am sure people will say that’s not for us to decide, but the numbers of people on senior salaries are something we can decide.

“It would be remiss of us not to include those, when making cuts to the most vulnerable and children.”

Cllr Hugh Jones noted “There are no no-go areas in terms of consideration”, and encouraged all councillors and the public to bring forward proposals for consideration.

One of the more controversial proposed cuts is to the Wrexham School Music Service, with more than 4000 people signing a petition calling on Wrexham Council to reconsider its plans.

Cllr Frank Hemmings called on councillors to “realise the bigger picture” and explained how music can grow a student’s confidence in other subjects.

He continued: “How do we expect schools to pay when they struggle to pay for day to day services themselves?”

Cllr Jones said: “We are going to listen to what people have to say. The lead member for education has already said it doesn’t sit comfortably with him, none of these cuts sit comfortably with any of us.

“We would have to find cuts within the education process to preserve that service.”

Cllr Jones also reiterated that the Executive Board will listen to all views expressed during the consultation before coming to a final decision when they vote on the budget next year.

Cllr Alun Jenkins said it was “heartbreaking” to see services being dismantled “bit by bit” and questioned if increasing Council Tax was an option to help generate funds to help keep services running.

He said: “How do we start a very public debate to get the public talking about this and establish from the people of Wrexham would they pay more, or are they happy to go along with continued cuts?

“If we can tackle this very difficult problem, we need to have the public of Wrexham on our side.”

However this proposal was criticised by Council Leader Mark Pritchard, who said he would not support such a proposal.

Cllr Pritchard said: “To a lot of people 3% is crippling them. I wouldn’t support that, there are families out there struggling to pay Council Tax.”

Questions were also asked as to how decisions were made over the proposed cuts to services, with Cllr Carrie Harper stating: “It seems to be the obvious missing piece here. Can I ask why the relevant parts of the budget are not sent to the relevant scrutiny committees?”

Cllr Harper was told that committee members have the opportunity to request for any information they wish to scrutinise – something which Cllr Harper said she and other councillors “intend to remedy”.

Commenting on the proposals put forward, Cllr Pritchard said: “We are at a point now where it’s not what we can save, it’s what we have to shut.

“These are terrible times for us, but we have to find the savings and bring in the budget.

“These are difficult times for us. We have had frank discussions as lead members, none of us want to support cuts but we have to bring our budget in. I hope there is common sense across members and parties to see where we are as a council and Executive Board.

“Whatever services it is, there is a massive impact now. What we are discussing is shutting and closing down services.”

A recommendation to launch the public consultation was backed unanimously by the ten members of the Executive Board.

Wrexham Council’s Difficult Decisions should launch tomorrow and members of the public will have until November 30th to have their say on proposed service cuts. The message from today’s Executive Board is that ‘nothing is off the table’ – so if you have your own ideas to cut services and / or generate revenue, make sure you have your say!

We tweeted throughout the meeting, most of which can be found below…

Exec 24th Oct – Curated tweets by wrexham