Norfolk County Council has agreed its budget for 2012/13.
Council tax freeze for Norfolk as County Hall agrees budget with £44m worth of savings
by DAN GRIMMER
Monday, February 13, 2012
4:16 PM
Norfolk County Council has set its budget for the next financial year, confirming £44m worth of savings and a freeze for its share of the council tax.
But the ruling Conservative group also announced it had found extra cash to create apprenticeships in the county.
The county council agreed a revenue and capital budget of £674m for the financial year of 2012/13 at a meeting in County Hall.
The budget will see a further £44m saved next year, on top of the £60m which was cut this year following the council’s Big Conversation.
Before the meeting, anti-cuts campaigners, including members of UNISON and the Norfolk Coalition of Disabled People. protested outside County Hall.
They were concerned at plans to cut £3.5m from the day services budget, concerns which were also raised at the meeting by the Green group and the Liberal Democrats.
But the Conservative budget, which includes those cuts - and the loss of up to 360 full-time jobs - was agreed with 43 votes for, 17 against and one abstention.
The budget included proposals for £3.5m to spend on road maintenance, £5.4m to provide extra places in Norfolk for looked after children, £3m to provide apprenticeships for young people and £2.5m to invest in adult social service prevention, to help smaller voluntary groups adapt to new ways of providing care.
And at today’s meeting, the ruling Conservative group announced a further £891,000 to create 81 apprenticeship positions within the Norse Group over the coming year.
That deal will also see the Norse Group providing nearly £800,000 of extra investment towards the young peoples’ training and development.
A further announcement was for £219,000 for a new Norfolk Citizenship Initiative, which City College Norwich will be involved with to find ways into work for Norfolk’s young people.
A proposal by Labour which would have provided half-fare travel for young people in Norfolk is to be referred to a review panel.
• See tomorrow’s papers for the full story.
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11 comments
On the subject of the Police, don't forget NOT to vote for Phil Hardy when the commissioners job comes around folks...... This is one spider I'd really like to see flushed down the plughole come 2013!
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Fenscape
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Hello bookworm -see your at it -whingeing .All we need now is to see what the police are going to do.
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biglingers
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
It sounds as if about twenty members could not be bothered to turn up for the budget setting meeting.
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Nemesis
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Bedoomed makes a spot on point. How on earth can abstaining on the single most important decision the council takes each year be justified? Why on earth would anyone go to the trouble of getting elected to then abstain??? What a waste, surely the voting public deserve to know who did this?!
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I ronnie
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Why should any Councillor abstain on the budget? Hoping nobody notices who it was? Please Councillors take responsibility for decisions whether for or against,( unless you cannot understand the arguments put forward) in which case find someone who does before the vote and learn from their advice.
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bedoomed
Monday, February 13, 2012
there should not be subsidised fares for certain age groups. hope it does not come about.
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bookworm
Monday, February 13, 2012
''V'' this site gives the answers to Norse being part of NCC http:www.nps.co.ukwhoweareourcompanies
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marshall
Monday, February 13, 2012
Mr Rushworth, fear not. As I am sure most are aware of the Lib Dem cheap tricks by now and will not be fooled when electors are made aware that they voted against half fare transport for young people. In addition, more money for apprenticeships. Wonderful. Shame half the county wont be able to afford to get to them. Thanks Tories. Usual lack of joined up thinking.
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Callum Ringer
Monday, February 13, 2012
Far from me to question Norse's professional abilities to tarin apprentices, but an internationally recognised apprenticeship takes 3 year's minimum training, not six month or a year. NCC's proffering of Norse as a viable option for apprenticeships, looks like it is merely a means of siphoning off tax money in to a loss making concern for this NCC creation.
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ingo wagenknecht
Monday, February 13, 2012
Lib Dem councillors were disgraceful in opposing Labour's proposal to cut by half the bus fares of Norfolk's young people. They put cheap party political advantage ahead of those they claim to represent.
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Sam Rushworth
Monday, February 13, 2012
"And at today’s meeting, the ruling Conservative group announced a further £891,000 to create 81 apprenticeship positions within the Norse Group over the coming year".___ "That deal will also see the Norse Group providing nearly £800,000 of extra investment towards the young peoples’ training and development"__ Now tell me EDP that there is no connection between NCC and Norse !. Why do my blogs keep being rejected with the reasons being "other", whenever I blog about Norse ???
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"V"
Monday, February 13, 2012