Latest news with #BarbaraCannon
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cumberland Council staff recruitment and retention concerns raised
THE Issue of staff recruitment and retention within Cumberland Council was raised at a meeting this week. Members of the full council met at the Civic Centre in Carlisle on Tuesday (April 29) and, during the time set aside for questions, councillor Trevor Allison (Dalston and Burgh, Conservative) raised the subject. He asked: 'Recruitment and retention was identified as one of the principal features of the CIPFA Report on the Cumberland authority's financial position. 'Their report leading to the statutory council meeting with the external auditors, identified the need to recruit additional experienced and qualified financial staff. 'At the same time, the regular Cumberland internal updates show management's commitment to staffing is likely to remain a feature for some time to come. 'Given this pressure in what is still our formative years for the authority, this should not be at the expense of monitoring and addressing in a fair and equitable manner, the issue of absenteeism. 'High absence levels are costly to the authority and local taxpayers, especially if it involves resorting to agency staff to cover absence, as distinct from vacancies. It is reasonable to assume that this will still reflect in some measure the statistics of the four legacy authorities.' His questions were: Have we adopted a unified process for recording, analysing and dealing with absence, and are the figures trending up or down? What is the current sick absence rate in days per working year and the ratio of long term to short term absence? Councillor Barbara Cannon (St Michaels, Labour), the financial planning and assets portfolio holder, said sickness absence data was a combination of short term and long term absences and it provided 'monthly snapshot'. She added: 'The rate has begun to decelerate.'
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Schools and council buildings to have £1m survey
Schools and council buildings will be subject to a £1m county-wide conditions survey. Cumberland councillors were advised in a report to order a complete inspection of its properties in order to discover what state they are in and provide accurate valuations. Councillor Barbara Cannon told a meeting there would also be specialist surveys carried out and they would be put out for tender. Mark Fryer, leader of the authority, said: "This is an essential part of the council's forward plan and how we look after our properties and schools." The report states the council requires "specialist surveys to schools assessing structural elements in particular build types and to provide Reinstatement Valuations for all Cumberland assets". Cumberland Council was formed in April 2023 and took on a range of properties from former district councils which had carried out surveys at varying times, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. According to the report the council's corporate assets team now needs to understand the condition of all its buildings. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. County to get £1.4m for flood and erosion schemes Cumberland Council
BBC News
09-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Cumberland schools and council buildings to have £1m survey
Schools and council buildings will be subject to a £1m county-wide conditions councillors were advised in a report to order a complete inspection of its properties in order to discover what state they are in and provide accurate Barbara Cannon told a meeting there would also be specialist surveys carried out and they would be put out for Fryer, leader of the authority, said: "This is an essential part of the council's forward plan and how we look after our properties and schools." The report states the council requires "specialist surveys to schools assessing structural elements in particular build types and to provide Reinstatement Valuations for all Cumberland assets".Cumberland Council was formed in April 2023 and took on a range of properties from former district councils which had carried out surveys at varying times, the Local Democracy Reporting Service to the report the council's corporate assets team now needs to understand the condition of all its buildings. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
09-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Cumberland Council criticised for £23m borrowing as tax rises
A council has been criticised for approving plans to borrow £23m while raising council Council approved its budget this week, meaning families will pay £4.99% more council tax - between £1.16 and £1.76 more each councillor Gareth Ellis said he believed it was not a budget for residents, but for a council that was "knee-deep in debt". Councillor Barbara Cannon, who is responsible for finance at the Labour-led authority, said the council was facing "significant financial pressures" but would continue to protect its most vulnerable residents. She said funding was "insufficient" and there was no alternative but to ask for Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from the Government totalling £ said that borrowing was not a "dirty word" because it helped in areas such as providing infrastructure, the Local Democracy Reporting Service disagreed with Labour leaders' claim that it was a "balanced budget", because it required such extensive borrowing. 'Huge debt' Independent councillor Robert Betton raised concerns about the council tax increase at a time when people were "struggling with the cost-of-living crisis".For residents on low incomes who may need help paying the tax, the budget includes funding worth £22m a year for the Council Tax Reduction meeting at the civic centre in Carlisle approved a gross revenue budget of more than £800m, of which the net budget of £333m is paid for through council tax, business rates and government to a report presented to councillors, the main change for the 2025-26 financial year was the introduction of the second homes premium, which would see council tax double for second homes from 1 Lib Dems and Green parties proposed amendments to the budget but they fell when put to a vote. Councillor Mike Johnson, the leader of the Conservative group, said the council was in debt to the tune of £244m, most of which was inherited from the former Cumbria County said: "If the budget is approved it will continue to increase." Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
