All Parish and Town Clerks have been written to by the deputy leader of the Isle of Wight council, Cllr Steve Stubbings, with a heads up on all of the ‘discretionary’ services the council may have to reconsider their funding on in the coming years.
He outlined the situation facing the council with what he referred to as “savage cuts in government subsidies” (there’s going to be a £28m funding gap over the next three years) balanced against “steep increases in the cost of vital statutory responsibilities”.
He includes a document (embedded below for your convenience) listing all the services for each area needing to be considered adding,
Officers have provided some detail of the types of services within your area which might fall under the category of discretionary, and of which we may, between us, be in a position to provide an alternative means for continued delivery.
I would stress that this represents the beginning of a process which will almost certainly involve partnerships with community groups, the formation of CICs, embracing localism and a whole raft of innovative ways of delivering local services appropriate to your own Town or Parish.
He goes on to explain that the list is “not exhaustive; neither does it necessarily reflect an intention on the part of the Isle of Wight Council to withdraw from any particular service provision at this stage.”
It’s clear that Town and Parish councils will certainly have a tough a time ahead of them.
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