Croydon Council is preparing to slash its spending by almost a third as it struggles to deal with the fallout from the recession.

Almost £70m is expected to be cut from council services through “tough decisions that will not be universally welcome”, Croydon Council Leader Mike Fisher has said.

Libraries, care homes and other council-run services could be contracted out to private companies as the council looks to become a ‘commissioner of services’ rather than providing them itself.

The Government has already announced £4.5m will be cut from Croydon Council’s grant, with almost half made up of Government funding designed to regenerate deprived areas of the borough.

This could spell the end of the Croydon Economic Development Company, which relies heavily on the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative funding.

Cuts in library hours have already been announced, with Sanderstead library set to close on Mondays and South Norwood on Tuesdays from the end of June.

Both buildings will also no longer open late on Friday evenings.

About £60m of ‘efficiency savings’ have already made by the Conservative-controlled council in the past four years, leaving it little room for manoeuvre without taking money from frontline services.

Coun Fisher said: “We’re not in this to win popularity. We need to run efficient services that residents rely on.

“In difficult times that we’re all enduring, we need to make difficult choices.

“Although many people value enormously the wide range of what the council does for them, there are even more who say the most important thing we can do when their wallets and purses are feeling the pinch is to keep our own costs down.”

The council is already investigating how public services in the borough such as healthcare, the police and the job centre might share premises and staff to avoid duplication and cut costs.

This includes the continued controversial plan for a new £145m council HQ and service ‘delivery hub’.

Croydon Labour opposition leader Tony Newman called the cuts “completely abhorrent”, calling for an immediate review into council spending on the new HQ, Your Croydon council newspaper and external consultants.

He said: “All of these issues must now be brought back to this chamber and debated as a matter of urgency.”

Older persons budget could be first to suffer

More than a dozen elderly residents of a Coulsdon care home could be the first victims of the council’s cuts as it looks to shed millions from its older persons budget.

Shutting Homefield House would net the council £760,000 a year, but would force its 14 permanent residents to move out of the only council-run home in the south of the borough.

Council officers say the 38-year-old home no longer meets Care Quality Commission guidelines, with bedrooms below the national minimum size and no en-suite bathing or toilet facilities.

A three-month consultation into the closure involving residents, relatives and carers and staff, as well as trade unions and Croydon NHS, was given the green light by the cabinet on Monday.

The report says the total redevelopment or refurbishment needed would reduce bedroom numbers, making it unfeasible for the council to keep the home running.

Staff would be made redundant or moved to other council homes within the borough under the plans.

Coulsdon East councillor Chris Wright, who helped in the battle to save the home from closure seven years ago, said: “The council say it’s not viable, we can’t afford to run, it but it’s up to local residents to have their say.”

A consultation meeting is due to be held at Old Coulsdon Congregational Church, Coulsdon Road from 7.30pm on June 30.

What the cuts could mean for:

Care homes

Care services could be outsourced to a private contractor, with existing council care staff given the choice of transferring their contracts to the new firm.

This is a reversal of the council’s decision to keep control of care services when it passed over management of three new care homes - Heavers Court, Addington Heights and Langley Oaks - to PFI contractor Caring 4Croydon.

Education

Almost £3m will be slashed from the council’s Government grant - a sum which could pay for free school meals for each child in the borough currently paying for the service.

School budgets for 2010/11 will be unaffected, but some education money could be transferred to other departments after the Government removed ring-fencing on parts of the ‘dedicated schools grant’.

Community services

Libraries and other frontline services could join leisure centres in being contracted out to private firms, as the council aims to cut staffing costs.

Most central services will be transferred to the planned £145m ‘public services delivery hub’, while the council will attempt to shed staff by sharing services with organisations such as the police and health providers.

Community centres, parks and green spaces

Smaller community centres and patches of green land which are not being run well by the council will be offered to community groups to own or manage themselves.

These green sites could become allotments or community gardens, with the council admitting it has not always succeeded in running these smaller assets effectively.