YOUTH centres and libraries are at risk of closing as the county council continues its mission to save up to £70 million over the next four years.

Bus services are to be withdrawn and scaled down while costs for sending children to school on public transport is also set to change and become more expensive in some cases.

Money will be made available so that communities can run their own bus services in rural areas while Worcester’s Youthcomm radio station has been given a bit of breathing space following fears that would close.

Worcestershire County Council’s cabinet made a series of decisions and launched a number of consultations on key services during its meeting yesterday.

The cuts and changes all form part of County Hall’s drive to make between £60 million and £70 million savings by the year 2015 which will result in more than 1,000 job losses over that time.

Below is an outline of the council’s latest decisions or what it is looking to do.

Transport

About 25 bus services are to be withdrawn after cabinet agreed to cut its subsidy budget from £4 million to £1.5 million.  A number of other services – mostly weekends and evenings – which are not provided on a commercial basis by private operators will also be operated on a less frequent basis.

A pot of £404,000 is going to be made available to help rural communities keep bus services running over the next two years.

Meanwhile, changes have been made to home-to-school transport service subsidies which will affect about 1,300 children.

Ticket prices are set to rise while post-16 travel help will only be given to those attending their nearest sixth form or college.

The Government is currently considering introducing a bursary scheme for pupils from low income families.

Library services

The council wants to save £1.8 million over the next three years meaning some library buildings might close but chiefs are keen to maintain the service itself.

That means libraries could:

• Be moved into other public buildings to link up with other services – for example, Pershore Library could relocate to the civic centre – or be replaced by a mobile service.
• Be run in partnership with, or wholly by, the local community.
• Be delivered and run by or with other public, voluntary and private sector partners.
• Stay largely as they are while incorporating other services.

The council has warned some opening times could be reduced.

Charges for taking books out and fines are set to increase, the money the council has to buy new books will be reduced, stock will be reduced and some staff will almost certainly lose their jobs.

Youth services

The budget for this area is set to be cut from £2.5 million to £1.1 million over three years and the council is looking at removing its responsibility across its portfolio of 20 youth centres.

Those might be taken on by other bodies but it is more likely some centres will close with services being delivered elsewhere by other partners.

Support for positive activities – defined as improving health, social or educational well-being – will be aimed at the most disadvantaged youngsters but the council is looking to pretty much completely withdraw from being a direct provider.

As a result jobs might be lost but some might be able to transfer across to other bodies.

Meanwhile, Worcester’s Youthcomm radio station is set to receive a £35,000 grant to help wean it off council subsidy over a three year period.

Arts and music

The council wants to save about £280,000 in this area – almost all of its current £300,000 budget – largely by merging Worcestershire Arts Education (WAE) and Worcestershire Youth Music (WYM).

Funding for Voices and Visions, which showcases young talent in dance, drama and music, will be cut from £43,000 to £23,000 while parents will probably be made to pay more to watch their children perform in showcase concerts.

We previously reported in your Worcester News how headteachers were not impressed with those plans.

The council also wants to provide more opportunities for schools to ‘buy in’ services, for example music tuition.

With question marks about future funding streams the service is aiming to become self-sufficient.