SIR – Your report (September 18) regarding “proposed” cuts of £20m over the next four years needs further scrutiny.
Based on the latest accounts for 2008/09, the authority had expenditure grants of almost £90m – when you include capital costs of, say, a further £13m per annum, the “proposed” cut of supposedly £5m per year for the next four years equates to just under five per cent.
Yes, this is quite significant, but it’s not of the level experienced by many businesses and other organisations during this recession.
Such organisations have had to cut costs but at the same time improve efficiencies. Basically, become leaner and reduce waste.
This is the challenge now for the public sector. Let’s just hope that the leaders of these organisations, including CFO Simon Pilling, are up to the job, because, as they are constantly telling us, their rewards should be comparable to the private sector. But can they deliver such efficiencies?
My suggestion, to preserve frontline services, would be for the Fire Authority members to lead the way and take an immediate five per cent reduction in their allowances. These allowances actually increased by a staggering 5.5 per cent between 2007/08 & 2008/09!
N P Shaw (Secretary – West Yorkshire Taxpayers Alliance), Westmoor Avenue, Baildon, Shipley, West Yorks
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