Multi-million-pound investment in supporting vulnerable people, fixing pot holes and tackling flooding, and a 4.99 per cent Council Tax rise, are set out in fresh budget proposals published by Leicestershire County Council.
The four-year plan lays out the tough situation facing councils and shows that rapidly rising demand for services, and inflation, is driving up costs by £218m. This compares to expected extra income and savings of £127m.
It earmarks around £100m more to support vulnerable children and adults and £12m extra to fix potholes and roads.
Following the devastating floods at New Year, it’s now proposed to invest £1m more in helping communities clean up and become flood-ready.
The cash would be used to undertake more investigations, designed to pinpoint the causes of flooding and identify any potential solutions, and to fund drainage repairs. Another half-a-million-pounds will also be spent by April to clear drains of flood debris and fix immediate damage.
It’s planned to use reserves to manage a small budget gap next year – by 2027, this gap is forecast to increase to £38m and rise to £91m by 2029.
Our focus has to be managing what’s in our gift and remaining financially resilient. We’re investing big sums of money in supporting vulnerable people, directing as much as we can into services we know our residents value, such as mending pot holes, and supporting flood-hit communities.
Person:Councillor Deborah Taylor, acting leader of Leicestershire County Council
Flooding is heartbreaking for our residents and businesses, with many counting the costs for the second or third time in just a year. So it’s only right that we help them to recover and invest in bolstering communities’ resilience. But we need Government to grip the issue. We’ve written to the flooding minister calling to overhaul the national approach and we need action.
The council’s yearly budget totals £616m – the authority is one of the biggest organisations in the county, spending around £10m every week on crucial services for Leicestershire residents.
The pressure on councils’ budgets is relentless. The National Living Wage and National Insurance changes alone add around £20m to our costs next year. This includes what we need to pay our care providers, which is not funded by Government.
Person:Councillor Lee Breckon, cabinet member for resources
“We’re lean, high-performing and low funded but continuing to do the best we can with the money we have. No one wants to increase Council Tax but without it, we’d have to make £20m more savings next year, and consultation feedback showed good support for our proposals.
“Thanks to taking tough decisions and planning ahead, we aren’t at the crisis point many other councils face. But we have reached a stage where it’s vital Government tackles the big issues driving our costs head on. And the extra money needed to provide services in a rural area has to be a focus.
The proposals at a glance:
- The books balance next year by using reserves to manage a small gap – with a budget gap of £38m in 2027, rising to £91m by 2029
- £1m extra to support flood-hit communities - following the devastating flooding in the New Year
- Just under £100m more to support vulnerable people – in response to huge increase in demand
- An extra £12m of capital to help fix potholes and repair roads - taking the total spend on roads, major schemes and tackling flooding to £125m
- A Council Tax rise of 4.99% from April – generating an extra £20m, which covers only the National Living Wage and National Insurance rises before any increased service demand is taken into account
- £33m of savings – including redesigning services, reducing the cost of back-office support services by maximising digital technology and smarter procurement, plus £52m to bring spend on SEND more in line with Government funding
- A £380m four-year capital pot – to fund one-costs of building roads, social care accommodation, new school places needed to support new housing, and more
The cabinet will consider the updated proposals next Friday (7 February) before the budget is agreed at a full county council meeting on 19 February – watch online
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- The extra flooding money comes from the council’s service investment fund, designed to respond to immediate priorities.
- Around 1,000 properties across the city, county and Rutland – including over 700 in Leicestershire – were hit by unprecedented floods in the New Year.
- A consultation on the budget proposals ran from 18 December to 19 January.
- Residents’ Council Tax bills include levies from district councils, police, fire and parish and town councils who all set their own budgets.