This survey outlines 12 budget savings proposals totalling £2.1m. Further savings totalling £12.3m are proposed including use of grant funding to replace core budget, deletion of vacant Council posts and income generation, however they are not included in this survey as they can be implemented with minimal or no impact on the wider community.
You can view all the budget savings proposals in Appendix 3 of the Budget 2023/24 - Revenue Savings Proposals report to Gateshead Council's Cabinet (PDF, 1 MB)(opens new window).
| Service | Proposal | Description | Impact Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Policy and communications | Reduce production of Council News magazine (£16,000) | Reduce production of Council News from 4 editions per year to 2 editions per year. | Reduce production Council News magazine IIA (PDF, 209 KB)(opens new window) |
| Resources and Digital | Removal of grant contribution to major events (£150,000) | Funding from the Council in support of major events will no longer be provided. | Removal full grant contribution major events IIA (PDF, 163 KB)(opens new window) |
| Service | Proposal | Description | Impact Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children's Social Care | Reduce spot purchases (£27,000) | Review and explore greater use of in-house services and improved commissioning of contracts to reduce the number and cost of urgent spot purchases made. These are services purchased to provide for children with disabilities in need of services. | Reduce spot purchases IIA (PDF, 213 KB)(opens new window) |
| Children's Social Care | Review children's home sufficiency strategy (£125,000) | Reduce need to support children in residential placements out of borough through greater local provision. | Review children's home sufficiency strategy IIA (PDF, 269 KB) |
| Quality Assurance and Commissioning | Recommissioning of Supported Accommodation (£50,000) | Review of system approach and processes to achieve a 10% saving when recommissioning supported accommodation contracts. | Recommissioning of Supported Accommodation IIA (PDF, 245 KB)(opens new window) |
| Adult Social Care | Increase use of technology, extra care housing and reablement approaches to promote the use of less restrictive models of care and improve people's independence (£674,000) | Reduce future demand for care packages by increasing the earlier use of technology, extra care housing and reablement of adult social care service users through care assessments. | to follow |
| Service | Proposal | Description | Impact Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highways and Waste | Cease Millennium Bridge tilts (£10,000) | Cease tilts of the bridge for large river boats, pleasure boat cruisers or tourist attractions. Tilts will continue for necessary river traffic. | Cease Millennium Bridge tilts IIA (PDF, 178 KB)(opens new window) |
| Highways and Waste | Removal of Car Park security guard (£40,000) | Removal of car park security guard from Heworth North car park and full cost recovery from third parties. | Removal Car Park Security Guard IIA (PDF, 172 KB)(opens new window) |
| Environment and Fleet Management | Reduction in some environmental services (£835,000) | Reduction in environmental services including:
| Reduction In Grounds Maintenance IIA (PDF, 181 KB)(opens new window) Reduce Maintenance in Parks IIA (PDF, 177 KB)(opens new window) Reduce Investment in Environment IIA (PDF, 222 KB)(opens new window) Reduce Investment in Parks IIA (PDF, 179 KB)(opens new window) Reduce Cycle Path Maintenance IIA (PDF, 226 KB)(opens new window) Reduction & Outsourcing Arboriculture IIA (PDF, 224 KB)(opens new window) Reduction in Street Cleansing IIA (PDF, 178 KB)(opens new window) Reduce Weed Control IIA (PDF, 177 KB)(opens new window) |
| Environment and Fleet Management | Cessation of some environmental services (£130,000) | We will stop providing environmental services including; the volunteer support service for parks and countryside sites, countryside wardens for natural environment sites, dog wardens (although an external contractor would still collect stray dogs), and the graffiti team. | Cease support for Volunteer Service IIA (PDF, 221 KB)(opens new window) Cease Countryside Warden Service IIA (PDF, 186 KB)(opens new window) Cease Dog Warden Service IIA (PDF, 225 KB)(opens new window) Cease Graffiti Team IIA (PDF, 180 KB)(opens new window) |
| Environment and Fleet Management | Removal of Events Officer post for highways (£30,000) | Removal of the Events Officer post which advises on events taking place on, or that affect Gateshead's highways. | Removal of events officer post IIA (PDF, 171 KB)(opens new window) |
| Culture | Consider alternative management arrangements for St. Mary's Heritage Centre (£29,000) | Develop options for alternative management of St. Mary's Heritage Centre. Library service staff would be withdrawn from the centre by the end of 2023 | Consider alternative management arrangements for St Mary's Heritage Centre IIA (PDF, 239 KB)(opens new window) |
