All of this has been achieved despite savage cuts of £190m to the county council's funding by central government, equating to around 36% of its entire budget. This figure is expected to rise even higher if the coalition government continues to focus its programme of public spending cuts on our councils and communities.
Press release: A freeze in council tax for the fourth year running;
protection for 65,000 households by retaining the same level of council tax
benefit payments for a year; increased investment in projects to kick start the
economy and job creation; and higher spend on areas of adult social care. Those
are amongst the headlines of Durham County Council’s 2013/14
budget which was approved by Full Council today. (February 20). The budget document
also outlines how the council needs to make increased required savings
totalling nearly £190m for the period 2011 – 2017.
Members heard that cuts in Government funding mean that
initial forecasts of a total reduction of some 28 per cent to the budget are
now more likely to equate to 36 per cent between the years highlighted above.
In addition, should predicted further central Government funding cuts go ahead,
that figure could be more like 40 per cent by 2017/18 representing an overall
revised savings target of some £200m across the six-year period.
To meet these unprecedented targets, the council will stick
to the plan supported by the public of protecting wherever possible front line
services while continuing to reduce management and support service budgets to
balance the books.
Leader of the council, Cllr Simon Henig, said: “I am
grateful to the public for their feedback during our recent consultation which
shows a high level of understanding of how we have managed spending reductions
so far. However, there is no doubt there are many more extremely difficult decisions
which we will have to make. We will make these while continuing our discussions
with residents and businesses in the county and while protecting those who are
most vulnerable as best we can.
“This includes our proposal to freeze council tax for the
fourth year running, our decision to protect council tax benefit payments for a
year and our increased budgets for areas of adult social care as well as
capital projects to boost the economy and job creation."
The decision to protect council tax benefits to the most
vulnerable households in the county for an initial one year period was approved
by the authority’s Full Council on January 9, 2013.
To date Durham County Council has already saved more than
£90m of the required overall figure.
However, members will be advised that precise planning
continues to be difficult in light of uncertainties surrounding some funding
and complexities around the revised formula for public sector grants. The council’s
Medium Term Financial Plan balances the budget for 2013/14 and the authority is
committed to further widespread consultation this autumn to identify where the
remaining savings should be found.
Throughout the process of budget reductions the council has
consulted with residents. Most recently public feedback was sought so that the
authority could understand how people had been affected by reductions or
changes to services so far.
This was done via the council’s 14 Area Action Partnerships,
the Citizens’ Panel and targeted questionnaires. 1,500 people responded and the
results revealed there is a high level of public understanding of how the authority
has managed a very difficult process. Included in the responses received was
the fact that some 40 per cent of people felt that the introduction of
Alternate Weekly Collections for refuse and recycling had had a positive impact
on them, with only 12 per cent reporting a negative impact. The remainder
reported no impact at all. This change alone is already saving the council over
£2m a year.
Despite the financial pressures the council has been able to
maintain a significant capital investment programme of £159m in 2013/14 in line
with the council’s regeneration and job creation priorities. The programme is fully funded from capital
grants, capital receipts from the sale of council assets and some prudential
borrowing.
A full list of new projects plus more information on the
savings and budget plan are available at
