The Haute-Vienne Departmental Council closes its structures to the public one day a week

Due to budgetary restrictions, part of the services of the Haute-Vienne Departmental Council will close for one day per week from February 1, 2025. This radical decision was announced this Thursday, January 23 in the morning, by Jean- Claude Leblois, the president of the Department, like a warning shot, to denounce the budgetary restrictions imposed on communities. “We are missing 44 million euros to balance the budget. We are being taken an additional 12 million euros, and even if it were to be 8, as now seems to be envisaged, it would not change anything. We have provisioned in previous years, but this reserve will not be eternal, we can resort to borrowing for investment, but we have no other choice than to reduce expenses. »

What closes, what does not close

Concretely, the doors of the Maisons du Département, the Rochechouart contemporary art museum, the departmental archives, the Hôtel du Département and the Departmental Library will be closed one day per week. The closing days for each structure should be known quickly.

Not affected are colleges, the Departmental Center for Children and Families and the Memory Center of Oradour-sur-Glane.

Schedules adapted for agents

Beyond the cost reductions linked to energy, the objective is to reduce the hourly volumes of replacement employment for community agents. Thus, for the Rochechouart museum, these closures will make it possible to postpone recruitment to the summer and reduce its volume, the other agents having worked less the rest of the year. “I do not want the community’s regular agents to be the victims of these restrictions. We validated this decision in the territorial social committee with the staff representatives. In addition, we are relaxing their working hours. 170 agents have already chosen the 4-day week out of the 2,000 in total, knowing that some, such as family assistants, cannot claim it. »

There is no doubt that this decision will be debated during the next budgetary orientation debate scheduled for March 27 and during the budget vote on April 10.