10:30am Friday 19th March 2010
THE new managing director of Worcester City Council has warned more savings might have to be made.
Duncan Sharkey said the council was in a good position to cope with having to make more savings and said any potential future budget pressures did not necessarily mean job cuts.
He also said he thought the city can prosper despite the recession and said he wanted to help put Worcester in a position so that it can take advantage of the upturn in the economy when it comes.
In a wide-ranging interview with your Worcester News, a relaxed Mr Sharkey – a married father-of-four who turned 39 yesterday – also talked about his love of baseball, Italian food, haggis and bands such as Razorlight, the Scissor Sisters and Athlete. We previously reported how the city council is well on its way to making the £4.5 million efficiency savings it targeted.
Mr Sharkey, into the second week of his new £105,824-a-year post, said: “I think the city council has done a really good job managing that budget pressure. I don’t think, in terms of the national picture, that’s the end of the story though.
“I think there’s going to be more difficulties ahead but the benefit for Worcester is we are in a good position to know how to make savings.
“I think the benefit for me as the new managing director is that I have joined an organisation that is used to change. That is always a difficult process but at the city council that process has already started.”
Mr Sharkey, who was briefly the youngest chief executive in the country when he was appointed chief executive of West Lindsey District Council in Lincolnshire in 2005, said it was necessary that Worcester recently agreed to share more services with other councils.
He said all partners must continue to work together to make sure the savings promised are delivered while also looking at making improvements.
In the coming weeks and months Mr Sharkey will be assessing all departments and their processes.
“I think there’s the capacity within the city council to make greater efficiencies in the way we are delivering existing services which will be to the benefit of the taxpayer and will help us manage this financial crisis,” he said.
Mr Sharkey said Worcester, as the county town, “needs to succeed” and said it was important that residents and businesses see regular physical changes and improvements to the city – such as the riverside works currently taking place and the installation of the new £2 million foot and cycle bridge at Diglis.
Mr Sharkey said he hoped the next government would allow district councils to make more decisions and he urged people to vote in the general election.
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