Museum to close, 275 jobs to go, and council tax to rise in savage Dudley Council cuts

Drastic cuts will be made across its departments, including children's services, while Dudley Zoo and Castle will be stripped of some of its grant, as the authority attempts to save £20 million over the next three years.

• Dudley Museum and Art Gallery to be turned into housing or offices

• Dudley Zoo and Castle to be stripped of £200,000 over three years

• Opening hours slashed at customer service centre Dudley Council Plus

• Red House Glass Cone in Wordsley opening hours also cut

• Voluntary groups to be asked to help maintain parks[/breakout]

The measures were announced as part of the council's budget proposals for 2015/16 which are to be finalised in March.

It follows the announcement that 133 full-time jobs could be axed as a result of the plans. The figure is expected to rise to 275 by 2018/19.

Finance boss Councillor David Sparks said the council had been forced to take tough decisions due to a large drop in Government funding.

He said the authority will still have to find another £50m of savings by 2020 even if it passes all the latest ones proposed.

Council tax is set to rise by just under two per cent next year, the maximum permitted without submitting the decision to a referendum.

It would mean most taxpayers being asked to pay the council an average of around £22.36 more per year.

Councillor Sparks said: "One thing we will not do in this borough is go bankrupt. We will stay in control of our finances."

He said the money for the zoo was used for maintenance of the castle rather than 'keeping the zoo open'.

Councillor Sparks also insisted people's access to culture in the town could improve without the museum and art gallery in Priory Street. He said artefacts there would be moved elsewhere.

He said: "What is envisaged there is that the current building is refurbished and recycled in the same way lots of other buildings are for offices or accommodation and the function of the museum is transferred elsewhere. My own view is that an awful lot of what Dudley has at the museum is not open to the public and not seen in the public. We have one of the best collections of geological exhibits literally in the world and it has always been my view that it should be on show to the public."

And although some of the cuts will hit children's services, Councillor Sparks said it was crucial to cut the 'astronomical' amount of money spent on youngsters in care by recruiting more foster families.

He said: "Although we need to make savings we will not be making savings that increase the risk of looked after children or adults in care."

Labour council leader Pete Lowe said: "The continued reduction in Government funding is making settling a balanced budget to deliver local services extremely difficult. We have to prioritise our resources on the statutory services we have a legal duty to provide. This does mean that we have been left with little choice but to explore new ways of delivering many services." The council is also proposing to reduce opening hours at Dudley Council Plus as it tries to do more online, while the Red House Glass Cone, another of Dudley's most famous buildings, also looks set to have its hours scaled back.

Opposition Conservative group leader Councillor Patrick Harley has hit out at the ruling Labour group for making 'miserly' cuts 'which affect well-used services.'

He said many of the cuts proposed would not save the council much money but would 'cause problems for hard pressed council tax payers and not make the delivery of the services any more efficient or guarantee their long term stability'.

"This is an old fashioned budget set by an old fashioned Labour Party who believe that they can cut services to the bone whilst blaming anyone but themselves," he said. The cuts come in response to £65m worth of reductions in government funding since 2010, which is expected to rise to more than £100million over the next three years.

Council bosses said it represented a cut of more than 50 per cent of the funding they received from central government.

Proposed cuts go before the Labour cabinet next Wednesday, October 28.