Council Plans To Minimise Cuts To Frontline Services |
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After residents offered their views in the public budget consultation
Hounslow Council has announced it intends to minimise cuts to frontline services after residents offered their views in the public budget consultation. Nearly 7,000 residents completed the consultation, which offered the opportunity to share views on the council services residents felt needed saving the most after central government cut funding to the borough by £60m over four years. As a result of public views, the council’s Executive has put forward revised proposals that would ensure youth centre activities in Chiswick's Hogarth Centre as well as in Hanworth, Southville and the Hub will remain open and fully functional, with scaled-down savings taken from administrative roles instead. Street cleansing services will also be retained in their entirety after residents declared how much they valued these services, with 58% disagreeing with the proposal to reduce levels. The public response to libraries was also positive, with 57% of residents wanting to retain all the sites. As a result of the public budget consultation, Hounslow Council has proposed that immediate savings can be delivered by deferring some book purchases, minimising the risk of library closure. In the meantime, a more specific library consultation is underway which will inform the longer term strategy. Following the consultation, the Executive also recommended that cuts to community halls were delayed. This will allow detailed options for transferring the halls to community groups to be developed. To view the report and a full rundown of the public budget consultation results, click here. The full list of proposals, including the revised options, will be put forward to the meeting of executive members on 8 February at the Civic Centre in Hounslow, with the final budget decision being made by all councillors on 1 March. February 2, 2011
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