Residents and businesses are being encouraged to give their views on Leicestershire County Council’s ‘toughest budget’.
A consultation launches today (Wednesday) on proposals which include investing £127m more to meet growing demand, mainly in social care, and an extra £113m to cover inflation and the National Living Wage increase. The plan also forecasts a budget gap of £85m by 2028 after planned savings.
A three per cent Council Tax increase for core services is planned for next year, generating £11m for front line services. A further £7m will be raised from a two per cent increase in the adult social care precept.
Spiralling social care prices, growing service demand and inflation are driving up costs for councils across the country and means that for the first time, it’s planned to use up to £12m of reserves to help balance the books next year.
Pressures include:
- Surging cost of placements for children in care - with costs for just 10 children with complex needs now reaching £5m
- A 56 per cent rise in unaccompanied asylum seeking children in care and care leavers since last year
- Over £220m of net inflation and service pressures across the next four years - compared to £100m of increased income (including Council Tax)
Major redesigns of children’s and adults’ social care are already underway to bring down future demand and costs by millions-of-pounds, such as creating more new placements locally, rolling out new technology and helping more people live independently.
Controls around recruitment, procurement and other spend have also been tightened up to help bring down the council’s budget gap.
This is the toughest budget challenge we’ve faced. Simply put, rapidly rising demand for services, growing costs and inflation by far outstrip the increased income we receive.
These pressures are being felt by councils up and down the country. Although we are not in crisis, we have to tackle the 20 per cent gap between expenditure and income, so need to deliver services differently.
Using reserves has to be a one off. It’s a sticking plaster for next year and we’ll have to consider other ways of generating large savings.
It’s important we hear from residents and businesses and I’d encourage people to complete the survey.
Person:Declan Keegan, director of corporate resources
You can complete the survey until the consultation closes on 17 January.
Budget at a glance
The four-year budget plan includes:
- A £12m budget shortfall next year – rising to £33m in 2026, £60m in 2027 and £85m in 2028
- £127m more to support vulnerable people – to pay for more home and residential care, and support people with physical disabilities, learning disabilities and mental health needs
- An extra £113m - to cover inflation and the National Living Wage increase
- Major redesigns of services to manage future demand, including:
o Special educational needs and disabilities - a new approach balancing growing demand for support with getting children the right help
o Working with Barnardo’s to run children’s homes locally
o Boosting ‘supported living’ - over 100 new placements created since 2020, enabling people with learning and physical disabilities and mental health needs to learn life skills and live independently
o Rolling out ‘care technology’ - over 2,600 pieces of equipment, including falls detectors and GPS location trackers, installed over last year, benefiting over 1,000 people
- £36m of savings – including redesigning services, reducing the cost of back-office support services by maximising digital technology and smarter procurement
- A £445m four-year capital pot - for the cost of building roads, schools and other one-off projects linked to new homes being built across Leicestershire