South Lanarkshire special uplifts could be charged at top rate

Oct 11 2007

INCREASED charges for residential care home users and a premium rate phone line for special rubbish uplifts could be on the way.

The proposals are among a list of options for efficiency savings currently being considered by South Lanarkshire Council.

The council’s policy is to trim their budget by 2¼ per cent every year, and next financial year they will be seeking cuts of more than £10m.

The options were published with 56 others in a report by officers to the council’s executive committee meeting yesterday (Wednesday).

All councillors will now have a chance, at a seminar next week, to say where they think the spending axe should fall.

After the opinions of the councillors have been canvassed, the party leaders will then agree on strategies before the document is debated at next month’s executive committee meeting.

Under the current proposals, residential care home prices will increase from £276 to £283 for existing residents, and from £276 to £356 for new residents.

The moves will generate an extra £54,000 for the council, and have been brought in to “better reflect the cost of providing the service”.

There are also plans to introduce a premium phone line charge of £1.50 for special uplifts of rubbish.

Some councillors raised concerns that this charge would deter people from phoning in about fly-tipping, thus increasing the problem.

However, the report’s authors confirmed that people phoning in about fly-tipping would not be charged, and the costly phone line would be introduced to deter people from abusing the service.

It is estimated that this change would raise £280,000 for the local authority.

£55,000 would also be saved by closing public toilets at seven sites, including Abington, Coalburn and Douglas, while a change in provision for pupils who require behaviour support has been cited.

Currently, secondary schools receive an enhanced allocation of teachers to allow for the support of pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Due to the introduction of extended community teams and improved inter-agency working, a reduction in this allowance is proposed with a saving of £50,000.

Linda Harvie, director of finance, said: “Efficiency savings are sourced from a range of initiatives including managerial efficiencies and the outcome of Best Value Service Reviews. A condition which is rigorously enforced is that savings should have no detrimental impact on frontline services.”