Wiltshire Council must find £100m savings

Wiltshire Council has said it needs to find savings of £100m over the next four years.

It said the money was needed to cover a projected reduction in government funding and increasing costs.

Deputy leader of the council John Thomson said: "What we are going to do are things that don't affect front line services."

He said they were still hoping to actually invest in some front line services, despite looking for savings.

'Won't be painful'

The local authority's bosses have met with trade unions to discuss how the savings can be made.

Cllr Thomson said: "There are certain pressures we have coming up. In social services, we have an ageing population and this year we are having about a 10% increase in the demand.

"We also want to improve the waste collection process across the county, we are going to invest in new leisure centres and invest in our libraries.

"So we have all those pressures, but we also have to deal with the reduction in funding we get from central government.

"We're hoping in won't be painful on the front line services because we are in a much better position than many other councils. We feel we can take it out of central costs."

Reduce waste

He said it had been agreed that savings would be made in four key areas, including reducing the use of agency and contractor staff, and limiting or freezing recruitment.

The council said it would also improve the way it buys services and products.

Reducing waste is another target, involving reviews of services and the systems behind them.

The authority said it would also continue to improve the way its properties are managed.