Agenda item

Minutes:

Question- Cllr R Stuchbury

The Shadow Executive, the body overseeing transition of Local Government in Bucks, has now issued initial budget plans for Buckinghamshire Council over the next three years (2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23). The full plans can be viewed here:

 

Does the Shadow Executive recognise these figures below taken from their own published accounts forming part of the precept for the new Buckinghamshire Council, and do they believe the proposed reduction in spending will make it difficult for the new Buckinghamshire Council to meet its obligations in all those areas of service delivery referred to in the attached:

  • Overall spending on council services in 2020/21 will be £374 Million, the same as in 2018/19
  • Capital expenditure (investment in infrastructure etc) will be £163 Million, 25% lower than in 2018/19
  • Capital expenditure in 2022/23 will be 40% lower than in 2018/19
  • Proposed cuts of £11 Million in placements of Children in Care between 2020 and 2023
  • Proposed cuts of nearly £19 Million in SEND and Early Help services between 2020 and 2023
  • Capital investment in strategic road maintenance will be £15 Million in each of the next 3 years, which is £1 Million/year less than previously planned

 

Response – Cllr M Tett

Looking at how we’re spending council money can be complicated and confusing when you don’t look at the whole picture.

 

At a time when all local councils are facing financial challenges the proposed budget for Buckinghamshire Council aims to address the unavoidable cost pressures the council faces with the growing costs of looking after our elderly and most vulnerable children and young people.

 

Our plans for 2020 therefore propose much needed additional funding in these areas - £9.5m to care for our older people and adults with learning disabilities and difficulties  (£23.2m by 2022/23) and £4.2m to protect our vulnerable young people and children (£6.9m by 2022/23).

 

We’ve proposed a substantial capital investment programme of £163m for 2020/21 which includes an additional £4m to fix the county’s roads and £2.3m to clear blocked gullies to help prevent road flooding issues in the future which we know are really important issues for residents.

 

Over the next 3 years we’ll be investing £494m which will see £111m to improve and enhance our town centres in Aylesbury and Wycombe and £69m for maintaining and improving our roads, street lights, pavements, and bridges. A further £62m will be invested in new roads in Princes Risborough, Abbey Barn (High Wycombe) and Aylesbury. Some £107m is earmarked for new and existing schools and school places, including the new Kingsbrook Secondary School. And a further £18.3m has been set aside to support housing and homelessness including affordable housing action plans and disabled facilities grants.

 

It’s difficult to compare capital spend from one year to the next. This type of investment goes up and down depending on the major projects at the time, based on the needs of our services. For example, one year there could be a higher capital spend due to building a new school, which isn’t something the council would need to do every year – a bit like buying a car!  

 

The proposed day to day budget of £435m for Buckinghamshire Council brings together all the current council budgets. These budgets have naturally increased over the last couple of years due to rising costs of living alongside the growing need for some of our most complex and costly services such as looking after our most vulnerable elderly and young people. This has been partly funded by council tax alongside grants and other funding to make sure we are able to protect the frontline services that our residents rely on every day.

It’s no secret that councils across the country continue to face financial challenges and there continues to be significant uncertainty on the level of funding for local councils. We are always working to make best use of council tax money and deliver the right services in the best way for our residents - and we’ll continue to do this in the new council.  In particular we have focused our efforts in the last few years on increasing the use of our own foster carers and children’s homes to reduce the need for costly external placements – which we know is much better for our children.

Similarly, the level of service provided by the council on important services to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities hasn’t reduced and in fact has been enhanced through a review of how the service is provided. We are working closely with schools to help them meet pupils’ needs more quickly and effectively at school as part of our early intervention programme. 

Protecting our vulnerable is and will continue to be our top priority and I’m confident that as a new council we’ll be able to meet these challenges head on and improve services for our residents, communities and businesses.”