County councillors know how to spend Valentine’s Day. No romance, no flowers or dinner for two – instead we’ll be at Shire Hall trying to agree a council budget for the twelve months starting in April.
(Last year, the budget setting meeting started in the morning, and finished after 9:30 in the evening. This year could be similar. And if the council doesn’t agree a budget tomorrow, we’ll be back on Friday until we do).
Financial pressure
The county council is under financial pressure. There is inflation, cautiously predicted to be one per cent. And there is the overall increase in the size of the population, and in particular the increase in those requiring expensive services such as social care. These include vulnerable young people and the elderly – and the important services the county council provides for these groups of people account for over 60 per cent of what the council spends in total. The crisis in adult social care across the country has been regularly reported in the national news.
Government funding
Traditionally central government has allocated a grant to the county council to support the cost of providing basic services. This grant is being phased out. This year it was £33m; in the year starting in April will be £15m, in two years’ time it will be zero. This increases the pressure on local councils.
Council tax
Half of what the council spends on its services (£254m out of £509m) comes from what we all pay through council tax.
The government restricts how much councils can increase their local tax. They can increase the basic level of council tax by up to 1.99 per cent each year, and on top of that they can also charge a further six per cent for adult social care over three years – which could be two per cent each year, or three per cent in the first two years and nothing in the third, for example. If councils want to raise any more than this they must hold a referendum.
The alternatives
Council officers have prepared a ‘business plan’ for the council which assumes the council will agree a two per cent increase in council tax for adult social care, but no other increase. This would mean the council would need to be more efficient in the way it does things (because of inflation and the growing population), but would also need to cut some services.
The different political groups on the council have come up with different proposals for how much council tax should be increased this year – from 0 per cent to 5 per cent in total – and how the council should spend any extra money raised in extra council tax. There are five different budget proposals for discussion tomorrow, which are likely to be considered in the following order:
- UKIP is proposing a total freeze on council tax and to use the council’s savings to keep up spending this year.
- The Liberal Democrats are proposing a two per cent increase for adult social care, and a 1.99 per cent increase for other services. This would reduce the cuts to services for children and vulnerable adults, make improvements in rural bus services, community transport and road maintenance, and end parking charges for the Park and Ride sites around Cambridge.
- Labour propose increasing adult social care by three per cent, and the general council tax by 1.99 per cent. Their proposal also aims to scrap Park and Ride parking charges. It would restore the Cambridge City Centre shuttle bus service, remove the cut to buying new books for public libraries, reverse cuts for mental health disabilities and autism, and set up a county council fund to invest in commercial property.
- The Conservatives are proposing the two per cent increase for social care but no more. They propose increasing expenditure on roads, pavements, and mental health, and say that the money for this will come from achieving more savings in council spending from next year onwards.
- Finally, a joint Liberal Democrat and Labour amendment (if all the above are defeated) proposes a two per cent increase for adult social care, and a 1.99 per cent increase for other services. This amendment combines some of the proposals in (2) and (3) above.
It could be a very long day!