Dudley’s leaders defended cuts to staffing levels after being told their plan to save £61m is hitting services.
Councillors were debating the latest report on council finances at a meeting of the authority’s cabinet on September 18th. The report covers the first quarter of the financial year and forecasts the financial position at the end of the accounting period in March 2026.
Labour’s Cllr Qasim Mughal quizzed the Conservative leadership on how sustainable their plans are and the impact of lower staff levels.
Cllr Mughal said: “A lot of savings are down to a reduction in staffing and there are concerns departments are facing the consequences of low staffing.
“The savings in some areas are being delivered but they are due to vacancies that were not filled so they are only one saving.”
Cabinet member for finance, Cllr Steve Clark insisted the authority was ‘on the right track’ and lauded a restructure currently under way at the council.
He told the meeting: “We have completely changed the total operating model of the council, we have gone down from 61 to 31 directors so all the middle management will be changing as well.
“We have become far more efficient as a council in terms of making sure we can deliver services. I am delighted we have been able to achieve the kind of savings we outlined earlier.”
Labour’s finance spokesperson, Cllr Shaukat Ali highlighted a section of the report which rated the likelihood of planned savings being delivered. He said: “The council is relying on delivering £61.1m in savings this year yet £10.2m is rated as amber and almost £1m is already undeliverable.”
The report, signed by the council’s chief executive Balvinder Heran, says the amber-rated savings were being managed with mitigations while alternatives were being sought for the £900,000 that will not be found.
Council leader, Cllr Patrick Harley reminded councillors the report being debated was just the first of a number of forecasts that will be produced during the financial year. He said: “There will be peaks and troughs on the budget, over the course of the year this will balance out.”
