Review of Services

Now that the Christmas break is over, we are going to begin a review of our services. Whilst we continually consider carefully any costs involved in everything we do, we feel in the current economic climate we should look at what we do, how we do it and if there is any way that we can give the same value and service at a cheaper price. We know that goods, contract prices, wages, equipment, fuel etc. continue to rise; so in order to keep the expenditure down, we need to compare and contrast all methods of administering the services for which we are responsible.

A simple example of this is that we are taking over replacement of Litter bins from NCC in April; they anticipate a charge to us of £400 to replace and install one. We need to investigate whether the ones we already have are in the best place- maybe some could be relocated; what is the cost of purchasing an approved type; how much would someone else charge to install. This may seem a minor cost but with over 40 in the town, the cost over a few years could mount up considerably.

There are some things which are specialist jobs, such as servicing the Town Clock and the Lightening conductors, again we will investigate costs but unfortunately there are very few firms who do this type of work. There are many other jobs which need to be done on a daily/ weekly basis or just ‘as necessary’ but we will still look at how this work is best done.

We want to ensure good value in everything and still be able to afford to offer support to local events and groups to encourage an active community for all ages.