'Contractors will have to play their part' – Leader says council can’t tackle the cuts alone

Reflecting on a first-ever summit for the council's main contractors at the authority's Tooley Street offices, Councillor Peter John said the response from the invited companies – which included the likes of insurance giant Zurich, BT and waste and recycling experts Veolia, was encouraging.

The council sub-contracts work to hundreds of individuals and companies small and large.

The summit was held on 17 December and saw some 32 company representatives from industries as diverse as law, construction and IT, hear first hand from the Leader and Duncan Whitfield, finance director, how the council is facing unprecedented funding cuts.

At the summit the leader reiterated his commitment to a borough where everyone can take advantage of the opportunities that come from being in the heart of London.

But he said making the vision a reality will require the whole borough to stand up and be counted. When it comes to finding the long term innovative solutions for the borough, he told the contractors that the council needs them on-board. Plans are now being drawn up for future summits.

Cllr John said: "Our contractors, large and small, play a crucial role in providing residents with the value for money services they need. "These unprecedented funding reductions mean we will have to transform the council and find new and innovative ways to continue to build a fairer Southwark.

"We need our contractors to be involved every step of the way as we take a close look at everything we do in order to find the right savings for the borough.

"Sound relationships with our contractors and partners are fundamental to the delivery council services and achieving best value for our residents. "I welcome this kind of dialogue and especially at this time. I hope that this event made everybody fully aware of the challenges that we face across all sectors and that we will repeat it again in the future."

The conference followed news that the council was to receive the largest reduction in government funding (in cash terms) of any London authority.

The Government's figures show that Southwark's formula grant will reduce from £262.446m to £232.790m: a reduction of £29.656m or 11.3%.

At cabinet meeting cabinet member for resources Richard Livingstone confirmed that moving forwards, a further report will be presented to Cabinet on 25 January 2011 on the draft budget for 2011/12, and future years.

This will be in advance of an Overview and Scrutiny meeting to discuss the budget proposals on 31 January 2011. The budget will be proposed to Council Assembly on 22 February 2011.