Council tax likely to rise in Northumberland as services shrink

Bosses at the Conservative administration have said the Government’s financial settlement for the county council was lower than even the worst-case scenario that had been planned for.

The Government has said it will provide more than £100 million in additional funding for the council between 2024 and 2029. However, that figure presumes a maximum increase in council tax every year, with local taxpayers making up 82.8% of the rise.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, council leader Glen Sanderson said that while the Tories had increased council tax by the maximum level allowed each year since coming to power in 2017, this year’s budget has proved significantly challenging.

Coun Sanderson said: “We’re going to make sure we continue with the things that matter – new schools, investment in our leisure centres and free town centre car parking. We will continue to invest in our parks and protect frontline services – people will not see a reduction.

“We began this budget a year ago. We took actions in investing ways to save.

“We have achieved the savings by being proactive over the last year, anticipating this settlement. We have invested in new adult social care facilities, we are investing in more care homes for children and in new software to ensure that all our transport arrangements are being done as best as we can.

“Through our BEST efficiency programme, we’re looking to save £16 million over the next three years. We have protected the things that people want us to.”

In terms of jobs, Coun Sanderson said he hoped to avoid compulsory redundancies at the council.

He said: “We have consulted and are working with our trade unions about how we look at staffing. It has always been my intention to never see compulsory redundancies t – I don’t want to, but I can’t rule it out.

“We’re looking to see if some of our staff might want to take voluntary redundancy. I would hate to see any of our staff leave, but it has to be in a way that benefits them and the council – that is the way to do it.

“I said I would reduce senior management costs by £1 million – they are actually coming down by £1.3 million.”

The council’s budget papers, which were published on Friday, show that a total of £4.3 million will be saved from the adult’s social care budget. Of this, £2 million will come from a review of care packages to ensure residents receive the appropriate level of support.

£5.2 million will be saved in the children’s services department, with more than £2.9 million of this coming from a reduction in external residential and foster care placements thanks to prior investment in internal foster carers and new children’s homes bed.

A further £5 million will be saved by the implementation of the BEST programme, which was updated in January last year with ambitions to save £60 million over the next four years.

Cabinet member for finance Coun Nick Oliver added: “Eighty-three percent of the core spending increase is expected to come from local residents paying more council tax. We have one of the worst settlements in the region.

“We have received an additional £13 million from Government this year – in context, inflation on costs and wages comes to £23 million.

“We have spent six months from summer to Christmas trying to reach a savings target based on assumptions we were given at the start of the fair funding review, which was £28 million. Two days before Christmas, we found we had to find another £11 million in just four weeks.

“That is difficult – it is really, really challenging. The Government has given us a three-year settlement so we have certainty, but it’s bad certainty – it’s just not enough money.”

Responding to the comments, Northumberland Labour leader Coun Scott Dickinson said: “The Conservatives have been managing the finances for the last nine years. I don’t know how they can mislead people on the settlement.

“Every council up and down the country has wanted a three-year settlement. That provides stability to the council. They have an extra multi-million pound settlement every year for the next three years and they know it is coming.

“The BEST programme wanted to save £60 million by 2029. This isn’t news to them.

“The council itself has forecasted, since 2017 until 2029, a maximum council tax increase. That is not a new thing for them, it is something they have planned to do.

“Nobody is saying savings don’t need to happen – it absolutely does. The council is archaic and needs to move to be fit for modern day. It’s about being efficient and productive for residents who pay their council tax.”