Arun chief executive: ‘We can weather the storm’

ARUN chief executive Ian Sumnall remains confident that the council can “weather the storm” despite the swingeing cuts announced in the Chancellor’s spending review yesterday (Wednesday, October 20).

ARUN chief executive Ian Sumnall remains confident that the council can “weather the storm” despite the swingeing cuts announced in the Chancellor’s spending review yesterday (Wednesday, October 20).

Mr Sumnall said he was not expecting the council to make any more job cuts on top of the planned 60 posts, 13 per cent of the workforce, which are being shed by Arun between now and 2013.

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However, while the outlook for council services and staff appears less pessimistic than might have been feared, the leader of the Labour group on Arun accused Chancellor George Osborne of launching an attack on less well-off families who would suffer most from the cuts.

Speaking yesterday afternoon, Mr Northeast claimed: “It will be families who have to take the strain while the bankers keep their bonuses.”

Mr Sumnall told the Gazette ahead of yesterday’s announcements by the Chancellor: “While the public may understandably be concerned about how potential cuts will affect them, as a result of the government’s comprehensive spending review, I would like to reassure then that we are confident we can weather the storm, and will not be taking any immediate drastic action.”

* For the full story, and more on how Government cuts could affect you, see this week’s Littlehampton Gazette, on sale now.

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