Tough budget times ahead says Leader of the Council

December 11, 2015 by Southend Borough Council

Tough budget times ahead says Leader of the Council

Thursday 10th December 2015

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council is warning of harsh economic times ahead, as it faces setting another tough annual budget in February 2016. The council will need to save over £1m every month in 2016/17 alone.

It is also currently estimated that at least £33m will need to be saved from April 2016 to March 2019, nearly £14m of which will be in 2016/17. This is on top of the £56m the Council has already saved since 2011.

The savings for the next year would equate to approximately £53,000 per working day, £265,000 per working week or over £1.1m per month. However the savings needed could rise even further when the Government announces full details of the Local Government Finance Settlement next week.

Cllr Ron Woodley, Leader of the Council said:

"In January, we will have to unveil yet another tough budget for spending on Council services for the year ahead.

“Cuts to local government finance from on high are now starting to have a real impact on the services that we can provide to local people.

“I have spent the last six months visiting community groups to understand what people need and expect from their authority and to balance these priorities against our resources for the coming years.

“What is clear is that we must get the basics right by looking after vulnerable people, maintaining our roads and pavements, supporting business, ensuring children get the best start in life and keeping Southend-on-Sea an attractive place to live and visit. We will do all of that but it comes at a price, and at a time when we have and will continue to receive much less funding each and every year until 2020, when it is expected we will receive no Government grant funding at all. At that point the Council will need to provide its services from the two remaining main income areas of Council tax and Business Rates.

“Constantly finding new and innovative ways of delivering more for less in order to adequately meet the needs of local people can only go on for so long. In so many areas we have done that, so we have to now look at what services we do provide – this will inevitably have an impact on local people and staff as we seek to find nearly £1m a month for the next 3 years.”

Figures at a glance (subject to Local Government Finance settlement next week):
Savings since 2011 - £56m 2016/17 savings – approx. £14m
2016/17 savings per working day - £53,000
2016/17 savings per working week - £265,000
2016/17 savings per month – over £1.1m
2016 - 2019 savings - £33m