West Sussex County Council will no longer have to dip into its reserves
However, 15.7 million pounds worth of cuts were approved
West Sussex County Council will no longer have to dip into its reserves to balance its budget for 2024/25.
The news was shared during a meeting of the full council on Friday (February 16).
In January, it was feared that £3.6m would have to be taken from reserves – but the announcement that West Sussex would receive £6.931m as its final Local Government Finance Settlement changed things.
But that money would never be enough to meet all the council’s needs.
As such, £15.7m of ‘efficiency savings’ were approved, as was a council tax increase by the maximum allowed, 4.99 per cent.
The change will see the average Band D bill rise by £81.54 to £1,714.95 for the year.
Despite the financial challenges, there will be no cuts to services and the council say it is in a far better position than many across the country.
Jeremy Hunt, cabinet member for finance, said the council was in ‘a sound financial position’ despite the ‘ever-increasing pressures’ on front-line services.
The new budget will see the council spend over £2billion on day-to-day services.
This will include:
- £961m on schools and education
- £507m on caring for adults and keeping people healthy
- £204m on children’s social care and supporting young people
- £83m on maintaining roads and providing transport
- £91m will be spent on protecting the environment, recycling, and waste disposal
The £15.7m being removed from the budget includes £600k being taken from the reserve set aside for the removal of Ash trees and £3.2m of efficiency savings over the next two years in a range of contracts that are managed by adults social care.
Staffing costs in children’s social care will drop by £240k, and a reduction in the number of children being placed in care is expected to lead to savings of £900k.