Cost-cutting plans to save Lancashire County Council £15m

The authority’s cabinet has agreed to consult on more than a dozen cost-cutting and income-generating schemes to help balance its books.

If ultimately approved, the measures would form part of £96m of savings County Hall is aiming to deliver over the next three years.

Among the proposals is the withdrawal of Lancashire’s free bus passes to 16-18-year-olds who are not working or studying, or who are carers or young parents. A subsidised £1 bus fare for holders of a disabled person’s NoW travel card journeying before 9.30am on weekdays would also go saving an estimated £394,000 between them.

Meanwhile £2m could be saved by expanding a service designed to support people to stay in their own homes longer and reduce the risk of them needing to go into care, along with £800,000 by ensuring the NHS – and not the council – covers complex healthcare packages for young people.

Other potential savings include changes to care arrangement fees, as well as the £6.3m windfall expected from changes to how food waste is processed.

But plans to generate £794,000 on expanded on-street pay and display charges were significantly scaled back when eight out of Lancashire’s 12 district councils said they did not support them.

The savings came under the microscope at the recent cabinet meeting where they were approved in principle.

Scrutiny management committee chairman David Westley sought reassurance the proposed disabled travel card move would not disadvantage disabled people travelling to work.

Oliver Starkey, a county transport head, said while around 100,000 single journeys were made using the NoW card in a year, fewer than 50 passes were used more than 300 times over the same period.. He said stats suggested the “vast majority of these passes are used for occasional journeys”, rather than going to work.

But the committee heard a public consultation and equality impact assessment would determine whether anybody would be “profoundly affected” by the proposed change.

Labour opposition group leader Azhar Ali suggested it might be wiser to better promote the young person's travel scheme instead of scrapping it.

But transport cabinet member Rupert Swarbrick, responded that the authority would not be proposing to get rid of the initiative if it were “being used properly”.

Elsewhere the expansion of an enablement service, with the recruitment of eight workers to help people live more independently for longer would save an estimated £1.9m.

And the introduction of a care arrangement charge for individuals who pay the full cost of their care could generate £280,000, residential care fee top-ups could bring in £344,000 and child care package cost sharing another £800,000.

County Cllr Ali told the scrutiny management committee that while he understood the rationale for the care packages proposal, he was concerned about the prospect of vulnerable youngsters falling through the cracks in the event of a “dispute” between the NHS and County Hall over who should pay what.

Council finance director, Neil Kissock, said a protocol had been agreed which enabled “joint assessments” to take place.

A further set of adult social care charges could save £1.3m, it is claimed, while a cost savings drive for county-owned residential homes could reap £500,000.

County finance chiefs say a review of council buildings might save £1.74m, while securing tenants for office space at County Hall, and reviewing security at Lancashire House in Accrington, could garner £490,000.

Further, a review of vacant council posts in the planning and transport service could save £176,000 and efficiencies in pavement clearance another £150,000.

The school consultancy and advisory service could provide £300,000 through a 10 per cent increase in fees for support and advice to school leaders and £200,000 might be saved by making use of new technology to manage the county's library book stocks.