UKIP Group Budget Amendments 2016/17 Appendix D (Revenue Budget Options) Remove the following from the list of proposed savings: Reference Activity 4 End support for Wednesday Club Cost 2015/16 6,000 14 Reduce grant for carer’s training 10,000 16 Benefits team – reduction in staffing 50,000 17 Contact Centre – reduction in staffing 50,000 26 Staff Savings – Democratic Services 28 IW Festival – Halberry Lane traffic management scheme 20,000 (becomes a saving of 10,000 rather than 30,000 as proposed) 15,000 Total 151,000 Comments Although attendance is currently low the Wednesday Club provides a useful service. Carer’s training is very important and can help keep people supported in the community for longer. The increased times for processing benefits claims under this proposal is unacceptable. There are claimants who need very quick activation of their claim if they are not to become reliant on emergency relief elsewhere in the system. Lengthening the time taken for processing benefits is therefore shortsighted. The Contact Centre is the primary way in which most people contact the council. The very fact that most callers ask about something that is already on the website shows that moving towards a web based approach will not work. People need to be able to talk to the council and they should be able to do so promptly and efficiently. We have included this because we believe that this “saving” of £30,000 cannot reasonably be delivered. During the last three years of Council there have been repeated upheavals to the Committee system and structure. Some have reduced staffing requirements, others increased them. We can see no reason for such an optimistic projection now and feel a reduction of £10,000 more appropriate. It is clear that some mechanism should have been put in place to ensure the organisers paid for this traffic control scheme. For the future negotiations should be opened with the organisers and other interested local parties for them to shoulder this cost. For now the Council should continue to do so in order to prevent traffic chaos during the busiest time of the year. Add in the following list of additional savings: Reference Activity 50 Reduce funding to Stroke initiative 56 Reduce (rather than cease) grant funding for youth offer contract Supporting People 52 Saving 2015/16 28,000 25,000 100,000 Total Comments Originally this was a proposed saving of £58,000. Our version sees the reduction of the post from Full Time to Part Time so retaining some capacity. We want to keep this service however we feel that a saving can be made without impacting on delivery. We recognize the vital importance of this work in reducing pressure further down the system but feel that a further small (compared to budget size) saving is appropriate. A saving of £100,000 reduces the budget from £2.5m to £2.4m. 153,000 Fees and Charges Appendix L Wherever possible UKIP would like to see all Fees and Charges rounded to the nearest £1. Where this is impractical then the following table should be used: Fees and Charges between £0 and £20 £20 and £50 £50 and £100 Over £100 rounded to either 25p, 50p, 75p or £1 rounded to either 50p or £1 rounded to £1 rounded to either £5 or £10 Doing this will simplify administration and eradicate some of the bizarre Fees and Charges we are levying. This rule would not apply to on street and car park Parking Charges but would apply to Parking Permits.