The Isle of Wight Council has, for a while, been telling us all that it’s going to be cutting back the amount of money it spends on services for the Island.
Monday will be the first time that the current administration has discussed this proposed budget presentation of budget options in public, at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at 6pm on Monday.
We’ve had a quick flick through it (PDF) and the cuts look pretty brutal.
New Chairman
It will also be the first outing for the committee’s new chairman, Jonathan Bacon, a new Independent councillor elected for the first time by the people of St Helens. Given he’s a barrister, this could lead to some interesting chairing.
Commenting on the proposed budget budget options he said, “There are a lot of serious issues to be considered. However, we must take care that cuts are not made for the sake of it which rebound on the council and community and cause greater expense in the long run.”
The IW Council leader, Cllr David Pugh, said, “There will be difficult decisions to be made as part of this year’s budget setting and the views of our overview and scrutiny committee will help the budget process.”
Unusual?
We’ve been digging back in our brains and can’t remember the last time the IWC press office made an official announcement a meeting to discuss budget options (if you know different, please let us know).
