Pendle council use use 'rainy day fund' to balance its books

6:00pm Saturday 23rd February 2013 in News

COUNCILLORS in Pendle will dip into their 'rainy day fund' - to the tune of £2.4million - to balance the books for 2013-14.

Around £860,000 worth of savings will be made over the coming year but the largest chunk used to plug the borough's deficit is set to be taken from their own reserves.

Another £450,000 of staff savings, from either job losses or deletion of posts has also been agreed as the authority sees its spending power reduced by £1.7million.

Proposals by Labour to axe chief executive Stephen Barnes - and share a boss with Burnley Council, were defeated.

Council leader Coun Joe Cooney said it was 'unfair to single out' Mr Barnes after years of dedicated service and Coun Tony Greaves, for the Liberal Democrats, said it was 'brain-dead' idea which would leave any chief executive with 'split loyalties'.

But Coun Mohammed Iqbal said the decision, and scrapping 16 councillors, could save the jobs of three regeneration officers and an engineer currently facing the sack.

"This coalition-run council is doing exactly what their masters in London are telling them and the people of Pendle need to tell them that their discriminatory policies will not be tolerated," he added.

Elsewhere the countryside access service, threatened with closure, has been retained and the much-maligned Discover Pendle has survived another attempt for its abolition.

Pendle Leisure Centre in Colne and West Craven Leisure Centre at Barnoldswick will also close for a fortnight in December and January. The Colne centre's sauna is also being scrapped.

Labour unsuccessfully called for the funding for Colne Blues Festival to be reduced by £10,000 and fresh attempts made to secure private backing But Coun Pauline McCormick, who sits on the board of organisers Pendle Leisure Trust, said: "There is not a company that tries harder in Pendle than us to get sponsorship."

The borough's portion of the council tax will remain frozen, as previously reported, and charges for replacement bins or bulky waste goods will not rise.

Councillors from all parties also ignored management team proposals to slash their expenses bill by nearly £35,000.

Comments(14)

AlexanderB90 says...
7:33pm Sat 23 Feb 13

Might have been a good idea to PROOF READ that title before you posted the story

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ROBERTSLUMDWELLER123 says...
8:49pm Sat 23 Feb 13

stop subsidising the white elephant called the ACE centre..

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ToffeeGuy says...
11:49pm Sat 23 Feb 13

Please stop using the word 'sacked' when it should be 'made redundant' or even 'laid off'.

'Sacked' often implies wrong doing from an employee when these people are dedicated professionals who through no fault of their own may now be without a job.

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coates warder says...
12:26am Sun 24 Feb 13

stop subsidising the white elephant called nelson

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jenkinsroy says...
3:59am Sun 24 Feb 13

why ???? is colne
the only council to be hit so hard with cut backs we do with out all the time. pendle burnley/nelson and all overs
get funding and help
why not colne are we not part
of pendle if not we will deside
what will close and what will
not we never get help from
this coalition-run council why????????
i see their expenses will not be cut why???????????????

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travel happy wanderer says...
11:10am Sun 24 Feb 13

Since when has it been their 'rainy day fund', If Pendle councillors Stop wasting money by writing off hundreds of thousands of pounds of council tax debt they would have a bit more money in the coffers, The people who pay every year don't get the chance to write theirs off. Nearly every worker i know has had a pay freeze or pay cut for the last few years about time our councillors thought of doing the same, Over £500,000 paid in expenses in the last 3 years not counting 12/13.

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coates warder says...
1:38pm Sun 24 Feb 13

what about that councillor who claimed full expenses a couple of year ago but was in pakistan for 6 months

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tonygreaves says...
3:23pm Sun 24 Feb 13

All the usual ignorant comments from anonymous moaning people who know nothing about nothing!

Perhaps someone might notice that Colne is surviving rather well compared with most towns of its size and nature. Much better than most, in fact.

The ACE Centre is a serious success.

By the way, the crazy idea of Pendle and Burnley sharing a Chief Executive would cost Pendle at least as much as the present arrangement and probably more. Do we really want places like Nelson, Colne and Barnoldswick run from Burnley?

Tony Greaves

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tonygreaves says...
3:26pm Sun 24 Feb 13

Oh - I forgot to add. There are no redundancies in Engineering and only one in Regeneration. As usual Cllr Iqbal got his facts wrong.

And the idea of slashing the number of Councillors (when did Labour ever believe in democracy?!) to save jobs now is nonsense - it would take at least two or three years for a full boundary review whch woul dbe necessary.

Tony Greaves

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Izanears says...
4:57pm Sun 24 Feb 13

Close down Discover Pendle.
It truly is a waste of space and money.

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ROBERTSLUMDWELLER123 says...
6:49pm Sun 24 Feb 13

tonygreaves wrote:
All the usual ignorant comments from anonymous moaning people who know nothing about nothing!

Perhaps someone might notice that Colne is surviving rather well compared with most towns of its size and nature. Much better than most, in fact.

The ACE Centre is a serious success.

By the way, the crazy idea of Pendle and Burnley sharing a Chief Executive would cost Pendle at least as much as the present arrangement and probably more. Do we really want places like Nelson, Colne and Barnoldswick run from Burnley?

Tony Greaves
seeing as you know so much maybe you would,nt mind publishing the figures for the ACE Centre incomings/outgoings excluding council subsidies??? with accountable figures.not the usual lies,,

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FREDF2009 says...
8:06pm Sun 24 Feb 13

Yes it would be interesting indeed to see the "true" figures of what The ACE Centre is generating. In previous years it has had to be propped up by Pendle Borough Council Funding to balance the books, as is usual the case. 2 years ago I think it was subsidised with £78K from the Local Authority, it would be interesting what it is now, this is so typical of venues being operated by Pendle Leisure Trust. What is also interesting is the number of Enterprise Units that are available for lease, I hear from sources that they are plenty, so to call this a success is farcical. Another point of subject is Pendle Leisure Trust have put a proposal forward for the Astroturf to be closed down to be replaced by a Ropes Activity Facility, not exactly well publicised and go in partnership with Alliance Leisure, a similar "backhander" to the SPA setup.

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Nelsonman says...
10:58pm Mon 25 Feb 13

A question for Tony greaves I want to know why Pendle council is closing the sauna down at Colne? Isn't that the only sauna you have in Nelson and Colne? which is reasonably priced to use? i take my dad there because he's got kidney disease and does him good so where would you recommend i take him St Peters in Burnley? If i have to do that because Burnley council can provide a cheap facility for its people unlike the cost of sauna at Wavelengths what difference would it make if the Chief ex is based in Burnley?

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elfnsafety says...
8:40pm Fri 1 Mar 13

Maybe if those whingeing about the ACE Centre used it, there would be less need for support from the Council. Perhaps they don't go anywhere other than the pub & betting shop.

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