What this consultation is about
Along with every other council in the country we're facing massive pressures on our budget.
Over the next four years we need to cut at least a further £75m from our budget due to reductions in grants from central Government and other pressures including inflation, meeting the Living Wage and greater demands on social care and services for vulnerable children. This is on top of over £200m of cuts already made. By 2021 we'll be spending a third less on providing services than we were before Government austerity cuts to local council funding began in 2010.
We don't want to cut services or to consider raising your Council Tax - but we've got no choice. Last year we raised Council Tax by 3.99%. This included an extra 2% specifically to fund and protect some adult care services, in line with guidance from central Government. We are proposing to raise this additional 2% for adult care services again for 2017/18 - costing the average Council Tax payer 35p a week.
We wanted your views on the budget 2017-2108 and asked you to take part in an online survey using a national consultation tool called ‘You Choose’, that councils can use for free. We asked you to consider what, if any, increase you would be prepared to accept on top of the proposed 2% increase for adult care services. The Government has indicated that any increase on top of the specific rise for adult care services can be no more than a further 2% unless approved by the local electorate via a referendum.
The cuts described in this budget consultation show how we could potentially balance our budget in 2017/18 but no decisions have been made on the budget as yet. Cabinet members will consider all responses to this consultation, alongside any legal and contractual reasons why we must continue to provide particular services, before firm budget proposals are drawn up. Following the council budget meeting further consultations will be held and local people will get the chance where appropriate to have their say about individual proposals before final decisions are made.
A report was presented to Cabinet, 24 January 2017, agenda item 8.