Torbay's economy could see huge investment boost

The Council is drawing up its final budget proposals, which are due to be published next Tuesday

Author: Sophie SquiresPublished 13th Jan 2021

Torbay Council's budget proposals are now in their final stages.

Their administration team is drawing up its plans for 2021/22, which are due to be published on Tuesday 19 January.

A number of changes are being proposed in order to invest more money into services in the Bay our communities value the most, following feedback from the recent public consultation.

This includes investing in Torbay’s economy such as:

  • £50k towards replacing Paignton Seafront festoon lighting with an up to date alternative
  • £250k to start the capital projects for Torquay Town Deal and Paignton Future High Streets Fund
  • £500k to deliver our Economic Repositioning Plan, which aims to help the local economy recover from the impacts of COVID-19 as quickly as possible

"We have listened to everyone who had their say in our recent consultation. We have identified extra funding since the original proposal was put together and we want to reinvest this money into services that people say they want and need.

"When we prepared our initial budget proposals, we identified a number of financial pressures as a result of Covid-19. Now that we have received our final settlement from Government, we are able to release some of the funds we set aside in case they weren’t funded centrally. We now want to reinvest these in our communities."

Steve Darling - Leader of Torbay Council

The final proposals will go before Cabinet when they are published next week.

The Cabinet’s final budget proposals will be considered at the Adjourned Meeting of the Council on 11 February 2021. If there are any objections then a decision will be deferred to the 25 February when the final budget will be set along with the council tax.

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