Dundee council departments to share pain of cuts

Dundee City Council departments are facing cuts across the board as the authority struggles to find budget savings of £12 million for the 2011/12 financial year.

Virtually every department is likely to have to share the pain, although SNP administration leader Ken Guild said social work, and particularly the area of child protection, is one he would not want to see compromised.

 Although the council has only just finalised its revenue budget for next year and the £5 million-plus cuts that involved, officials are already looking towards the following year, which will be even more difficult. In total, around £30 million of cuts will have to be made over the next four years, but 2011/12 stands out as the worst one because the £12 million savings are at least twice what will be required in any of the other years.

“On the basis of the information we have at the moment, 2011/12 is going to be even worse than the budget process we have just gone through,” Councillor Guild said. “We will try to make sure that the burden does not fall disproportionately on any one particular department.

We will seek to spread the load as much as possible and avoid damaging front line services.”

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