Council budget for 2016/17 approved

February 29, 2016 by Southend Borough Council

Council budget for 2016/17 approved

Friday 26th February 2016

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council has agreed its budgets for 2016/17.

Despite continued central Government cuts (£8.43m or 28% in 2016/17), front-line services that people rely on have been protected with departmental service savings of £10.467m being found to balance the books.

£52.7m of additional capital projects will also be delivered over the next four years, including additional secondary spaces for local children, improvements to local facilities and housing and vital infrastructure.

Council tax will rise by 1.99% and the 2% ring-fenced social care precept has been accepted. In total this amounts to 89 pence per week for a Band D property or £47 a year.

Cllr Ron Woodley, Leader of the Council, says: “With the financial challenges we face, we have had no choice but to announce some incredibly difficult decisions that deliver the significant savings required just so we can balance our books but continue keeping the streets clean, support businesses, ensure Southend-on-Sea remains an attractive and popular place to live, visit and do business, but most importantly to look after and protect our most vulnerable people.

“I accept it will not be popular, but I must protect the economic stability of the council and we have had to raise council tax by 1.99% and also accept the 2% social care precept which is ring-fenced in order to start raising the money we need to keep the council solvent. In total this is a rise of 89p per week for a Band D household or around £47 a year. I have suggested at recent community meetings that this could be more than offset by joining Southend Energy. Over 3,100 residents have joined so far saving on average £280 a year each or £869,000 in total, much of which will have gone back into the local economy.

“To not raise council tax would undoubtedly be politically expedient but it would be irresponsible and lead to many issues in future years. I would be delighted to be able to freeze council tax, but central Government cuts have made that impossible. By 2020 we will receive no core grant at all and be largely reliant on council tax and business rates to fund council services. I therefore cannot emphasise enough how important it is to understand that I must make the council financially stable now, and in the coming years.

“Even with the council tax rise and £10.467m of savings approved last night it is estimated that we still need to identify further savings of £28m over the next three years, which is £780,000 per month or £39,000 per working day.”

“We must not however rein in our ambitions. That would be no good for local people, local businesses or for the economic prosperity of Southend-on-Sea. Our multi-million pound capital programme demonstrates how we can attract significant amounts of external funding to deliver major projects whilst containing the need for borrowing.”

Along with the savings, the council also needs to find an additional £500,000 to deal with the increased demand for care of older people. This is due to residents living longer and staying independent in their own homes thanks to the help of council home care. A further £400,000 is also needed to fund transition costs of supporting people with learning difficulties who will reach the age of 18 and need adult social care services.

Public Health funding is also no longer protected, with central funding being reduced accordingly.

Savings will be made across the four departmental spending areas as follows:

• Department for People - £5.311m
• Department for Place - £3.367m
• Department for Corporate Services - £1.408m
• Public Health - £381,000

Up to 59.6 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) posts will be deleted. Of those, 19.4 are currently vacant (33%) and 17.6 will be voluntary redundancies (30%), leaving a potential of up to 22.6 FTE posts being made redundant.

Employees in the affected areas and the trade unions have been fully briefed. As in previous years, voluntary redundancy and possible redeployment opportunities to any council vacancies will be highlighted within the Council’s successful Talent Pool system, helping to keep the number of compulsory redundancies to an absolute minimum.

Councillor Ron Woodley, Leader of the Council, concludes:

“It is becoming increasingly harder to balance the books and minimise the impact on our residents, businesses and staff. Wholesale redundancies would be counter-productive to both the local economy and staff morale which then impacts on services to residents. But when the Government makes cut after cut and with the realisation that we will probably receive no central funding by 2020, there is inevitably going to be job losses as ultimately we must continue to do the basics like cleaning the streets, fixing our roads, collecting rubbish and protecting and looking after our most vulnerable people that need help. I am committed to ensuring that the right support is in place for our staff affected and to keeping compulsory redundancy to a minimum where we can.

“Looking to the future, we have to be open, honest and realistic and in the current, and forecast, period of national austerity, the scale of financial contraction is so vast as to challenge the scale, nature, stability and purpose of the role of the Council.

“Indeed, since the beginning of the national fiscal situation the Council has striven to sustain its full range of services but it is increasingly likely that this approach will be unviable.

“Despite that context, this approved budget still delivers the savings required due to Government cuts, invests in the right areas to ensure that we deal with an ageing population, protects our most vulnerable members of our community and continues to demonstrate that Southend-on-Sea is ambitious and remains open for business.