Cornwall Council budget proposals Alex Folkes
Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources
The big picture Last year we explained how the Council needed to deliver savings of £196m for the period to 2018/19. This reflected both cost pressures and reductions in funding. Required 'base' taking into account inflation, demographic change etc
£m
640
Inflation / incremental / demand led pressures £107m
600 560
Net Revenue Expenditure 2013/14
520
Total funding projected to be available
480
Funding reduction £89m
440 400 2013/14
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
Since that time we have received further Government funding announcements and identified savings, which we are actively working to deliver, totalling around £40m. However further savings are required.
Expenditure and income 2014/15
Funding gap 2015/16 – 2018/19 The estimated profile of future savings is:
£68m 2015/16
£26m
£31m
£31m
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
To make the situation even more difficult, much of these savings have to be made up front - meaning that at least £68m has to be found in the first year (2015/16).
What we have done already Campaign to secure local decision making on the use of the next round of EU funding Retained our AA+ credit rating meaning access to lowest borrowing rates and preferred partner status for a range of projects Government agreement for a Public Service Obligation funding our air link with London Cut the cost of consultancy and agency staff by 59%
Improving the transport network by securing funding to upgrade the A30 and undertake works on the A38
New agreement with staff along with a restructuring of senior management has led to significant savings Making a successful case to Government for investment in our rail network (upgraded sleeper service, improved traincare depot and modernised signalling)
Budget proposals - internal costs
Informing our budget proposals, Cabinet members have sought to protect frontline services through improved efficiencies and effectiveness of the Council’s own workings and processes
• Pay • Premises • Procurement
Budget proposals - new ways of working Informing our budget proposals, Cabinet members have sought to protect frontline services through alternative delivery models Being more efficient Income generation Co-operation and partnerships
Delivering services through private organisations Town and Parish Councils Voluntary sector commissioning
Budget proposals Front line reductions £52m (33%)
This has provided for the vast majority of our current budget proposals…
Income / commercialisation £27m (18%)
Unfortunately frontline services will be affected but we have sought to protect those services that we consider most important.
To be identified £13m (8%)
Corporate savings and other efficiencies £64m (41%)
Protected areas Using information gathered during the consultations last year and the views of all members, we identified a set of priorities. These highlighted the areas which were considered to be the most important to protect.
Services for the most vulnerable in society
Public Transport
Road repairs and maintenance
However as a consequence other frontline services will have to bear the burden of this policy.
Council tax • Council tax was raised for the first time in four years in April 2014 • Our current budget proposals included a 1.97% increase per annum across each of the four years
• Based upon a Band D Property a 1.97% Council Tax increase in 2015/16 would result in a 48p per week increase • Current Government policy means that an increase of 2% or greater would have to be subject to a public referendum • A 6% increase would raise £9.063m extra in 2015/16 • The Council has a scheme to support those who can not afford to pay their Council Tax
Do you support our proposals for a further 1.97% increase? Should we explore putting up Council Tax by more than 2%?
Over to you…
www.cornwall.gov.uk/cornwallbudget
Feedback from all the budget engagement events, together with recommendations from the Council’s Portfolio Advisory Committees, will be considered as part of the Cabinet’s deliberations on the final budget proposals.
If you would like a copy of the budget engagement summary please make sure your email address is on our sign in sheet
www.cornwall.gov.uk/cornwallbudget
Thank you for joining us If you have a comment or suggestion that you would like to let us know after today, you can email us on:
[email protected] or you can complete the online comment form on our website:
www.cornwall.gov.uk
www.cornwall.gov.uk/cornwallbudget
