There is still time for South Gloucestershire residents, council tax and business rate payers to have their say on the council\u2019s budget and council tax for 2017\/18.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s consultation has been amended to include a new question about changes to the social care precept, introduced by the Government for the first time last year. Initially set at 2 per cent, South Gloucestershire Council added the charge to council tax bills to help fund increasing demand for care services for older people.<\/p>\n
The Government has now announced that councils can set the precept at up to 3 per cent, so long as the cumulative increase is no more than 6 per cent over the next three financial years. We want to hear residents\u2019 views before making decisions on next year\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n
Councils have been given flexibility by the Government on how they implement the precept. For example, it could remain at 2 per cent for three years, or at 3 per cent for two years and fall to zero in the third year. The amount raised, whether the precept was set at 2 per cent for three years or two years at 3 per cent and then at zero, would be broadly the same. However, if the rate was set at 3 per cent for two years, that income would be raised more quickly, generating an additional \u00a33.7m of funding over the two years for investment in adult social care improvement.<\/p>\n
The consultation also asks local people to consider the council\u2019s ongoing savings programme and this year is also asking for people\u2019s views on any potential devolution deals in the future.<\/p>\n
The council provides a wide range of services and expects to spend in the region of \u00a3541m in the next financial year on areas including refuse collection, street cleaning, planning, social care and road maintenance, and incorporating around \u00a3189m on schools.<\/p>\n
During the last six years up to the end of this year, we will have reduced council spending by more than \u00a363m through a range of efficiency measures. Wherever possible, this has been done with a priority to protect frontline services from spending reductions while delivering better value for money to residents.<\/p>\n
We anticipate, however, that we need to continue to reduce our spending and have already provisionally identified \u00a314m of further savings that we will need to make by 2019\/20. More work will also be needed to identify where an extra \u00a313m of savings can also be made over the same period to meet the remaining shortfall between expected income and current spending to balance the books.<\/p>\n
Last year, following five years of council tax \u2018freezes\u2019, the council chose to increase the rate by 1.99 per cent. We also chose to add the extra 2 per cent adult social care precept. The current draft budget includes both of those measures once again this year, as we enter the seventh year of national austerity measures.<\/p>\n
Chair of the council\u2019s Resources Sub-Committee Cllr John Goddard said: \u201cAs a council we have a strong track record of delivering efficient, value for money services to our residents. We also know that we need to continue to make savings, but we are committed to continuing to protect as best we can the key services our residents and businesses rely upon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am pleased to learn that we have already had a good response to this consultation process and that feedback will help us to prioritise how we allocate funds for the year ahead. As the information available to us changes, however, we want to share that with local people and to hear from them based on the latest developments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to encourage council tax and business rate payers to take part in this consultation process as we set not just the budget in terms of how much we allocate to a particular service, but more broadly to let us know about the priorities they would like us to apply in making the decisions ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Further information is available online at
\nwww.southglos.gov.uk\/consultations<\/a> or from your local South Gloucestershire library and One Stop Shop.<\/p>\n