RBWM council warned not much scope for 'easy' cost savings

A new RBWM finance director has warned there is not much scope for 'easy' cost savings regarding the council’s proposed draft budgets for 2025/26.

Councillors reviewing the proposed draft budgets for the next financial year and the medium-term financial plan through to 2029/30, learned the council has undertaken the ‘easy savings’ and is down to the ‘challenging bits’.

Councillor Julian Tisi (Lib Dem, Eton and Castle) asked the council’s new interim executive director of resources Ian O’Donnell – who joined the post three weeks ago – for his ‘first impression’ of the council’s ‘cost-saving initiatives’.

“It's probably a slightly unfair question, but first impressions sometimes can be useful,” said Councillor Tisi at the RBWM corporate overview and scrutiny panel on Tuesday.

“In terms of our approach, it seems there is more scrutiny than there might have been but that's going from a low base where there wasn't enough scrutiny.

“What would your overall impression be in terms of: is there more that can be done? Is there anything we're missing in terms of our general approach?”

Mr O’Donnell said it was ‘immediately apparent’ that RBWM had ‘driven a great deal of efficiency’ in delivering adult social care and children's social care compared to other organisations.

“Indeed, in some parts of the organisation particularly the corporate centre, I think it may have gone too far and taken more capacity out of the corporate centre than perhaps it should have done to allow the organisation to function properly,” he added.

Other organisations in ‘similar’ situations are ‘still working away at delivering those savings’ while most cost-saving measures have already been implemented by the Royal Borough, added Mr O’Donnell.

“I think that is because of the pressure that's come from having to manage with a low council tax income and that has caused you as an organisation to get to these savings opportunities earlier than others,” he said.

“If this organisation was in a government intervention, that is exactly what they would do.

“I don't think there is a great deal of scope to find lots more efficiencies.

“I think you are at the point where you're starting to think about will any further savings might impede our ability to be able to deliver our statutory responsibilities.”

Councillor Tisi said he felt ‘torn’ by both the good and bad news delivered in the director’s response.

“The good news is again we're being told that we're doing all we can but the bad news is that we're doing all we can," he said.

"I would almost love it if there were things [we’ve] missed. It's good from a scrutiny point of view but sad from an overall point of view.”

Meeting chair Councillor Chris Moriarty (Lib Dem, Cox Green) added: “You trim the fat, you’ll end up hitting bone. There's only so far you can go.”

RBWM chief executive Stephen Evans said capacity is ‘without a doubt’ an issue for the council, adding: “In terms of savings, we are achieving savings.

"But...like pretty much every council, there's a proportion of those savings which from the outset are very challenging and risky.

"Part of the issue we've got this year is that some of these savings aren't being achieved.

"We are starting from a very, very difficult position that the easy savings, if you like, have already been taken so we are down to the challenging bits.

“Clearly there is further work we can do in some of those areas, perhaps where we can go a bit faster.

"But actually, we are starting from a challenging base because of the efficiency that's been driven out effectively to deal with the money that's been taken out of the budget over a period of time."

The draft budget report includes council spending to meet statutory duties. Recommendations made by scrutiny panels and the budget consultation responses will be considered by the cabinet on February 26.