CUTS in government support will not hit Cheshire West and Chester Council as it was formed to deal with them, its chief executive has insisted.
Following reports that councils across the country would slash 25,000 jobs and see frontline services damaged by funding reductions over the next five years, the council’s chief Steve Robinson calmed fears that Cheshire West would be affected.
While conceding spending would be reduced by 10% next year, Mr Robinson said that the new council had been created with furture belt-tightening in mind.
He added: “We haven’t cut frontline services. We cut out a whole raft of management and tried to rethink how the jobs can be done.
“We thought are there people who can do a better job for us? It’s similar to what a lot of the private sector have gone through.
“There’s a political choice to be made by our politicians. Do they drive council tax down or deliver more services? At the moment we’ve made those savings and there’s been no political choice to make.
“Even if the money was the same we would still make those efficiency savings.”
Mr Robinson identified the Vauxhall plant at Ellesmere Port as an unlikely soure of inspiration for how to run the council. He praised the plant’s efficiency and success in the face of huge obstacles.
He said: “Vauxhall have had to think how can we make cars in a more efficient way? How can we influence our supply chain?
“We can learn a lot of lessons from the private sector and the likes of Vauxhall.
“The way Vauxhall managed the downturn allowed them to retrain their staff around the new Astra model so you’re not looking at major redundancies because you’re planning ahead.”
