Council leader: hundreds of jobs to go in £40m cuts

In an open letter to Advertiser readers, Cllr Read spells out the “difficult and painful” financial decisions facing the authority.

Finance bosses need to find another £40 million savings, which will take the ten-year total from 2010 to £178 million.

And the task could change depending on the contents of the chancellor’s Autumn Statement on November 23.

Cllr Read’s letter said: “Over the next three years, the Government plans to scrap the main grant for councils [the Revenue Support Grant] altogether.

“In the years to come, we’ll be almost entirely dependent on council tax and business rate income. We’ll need to cut more than £40 million more, and hundreds of jobs will be lost.”

Staff were sent questionnaires in September asking how they would save £1 million from their own employment conditions.

More detailed budget plans will be published in the coming months.

Have your say about what should be included by visiting www.rotherham.gov.uk/budget, emailing [email protected] or writing to Budget 2017/18 Consultation Feedback, Finance, Riverside House, Main Street, Rotherham, S60 1AE.

See this week’s Advertiser to read Cllr Read’s open letter in full.