Council bids to cut back on spending

Council bids to cut back on spending

19 October 2016

AN action plan is to be drawn up in a bid to cut down on spiralling costs within Newry, Mourne and Down Council.

Just five months into the financial year, staff costs at the huge local authority are almost £900,000 over budget with the biggest overspend coming in the Regulatory and Technical Services Department which is overspent by £500,000.

Councillors have been told that unless action is taken to address burgeoning spending the local authority is facing a £240,000 deficit at the end of the financial year. 

Details of the shock overspend were unveiled at a meeting of the Strategy, Policy and Resources Committee when director, Dorrinia Carville, said officials have analysed figures for the first five months of the financial year to give elected representatives an idea about expenditure to date.

“We have made some budget adjustments at this stage and do not like to be in a deficit position. The figures have not yet had detailed review by the senior management team and are hot off the press.

“They will be discussed at our next management team meeting and we will put in place an action plan to try and ensure we are not in a year end deficit position,” she explained. “To date, our staff costs are overspent quite considerably and this is one area we are going to look into to see why it is so high.”

Mr Eddie Curtis, the local authority’s deputy chief executive, said officials will go through all the figures in detail to make sure they are in fact accurate and bring back a report detailing exactly where the overspends are and the reasons for them. He said officials will have “all the answers” and all the recommendations at the next Strategy, Policy and Resources Committee.”

Councillor Cadogan Enright said he is pleased elected representatives are now being provided with detailed management accounts, something which he has been asking to be provided for some time.

“For us to have an effective council monitoring of our finances we need to have a good set of management accounts. I welcome the fact we are now getting these as it gives us an opportunity  to peer down into the bowels of the council in a way that we have not been able to do before,” he continued. “Having these accounts provided to us is immeasurably better than where we were before.”