Conservatives deliver a balanced budget

The General Fund and HRA Budget for 2023/4 was passed at Full Council on Thursday

By Cllr Stuart Sullivan, Cabinet Member for Resources & Commercial

It is almost prophetic that on the day I last stood up in the Council Chamber to submit a budget, Russia invaded Ukraine.

In that meeting last year, we forecast a budget deficit for this year of just under £1.2 million. That was a challenging target to address but I was confident in the ability of the Conservative Administration and the officers to meet this challenge. Since last year, however, due to external economic factors stemming from the invasion, that were not only beyond our control but also unforeseeable, the Council has had to deal with an additional negative revenue impact to the General Fund of £3.4 million.

The same economic factors have similarly impacted the Housing Revenue Account and consequently rent levels. The report I presented to Full Council last night laid out in stark terms the effect those external factors have had on the Council's finances; factors that were not created as a result of the actions or policies of our Administration, unlike those of some other Councils. This, therefore, made the setting of this year’s budget extremely challenging but it is a challenge the Administration and our officers have risen to; taking at times the difficult decisions we deem necessary to not only ensure the Council remains solvent but to protect the provision of the services our residents rely on, while still continuing a programme of ambitious investment in our borough.

"Due to external economic factors stemming from the invasion, that were not only beyond our control, but also unforeseeable, the Council has had to deal with an additional negative revenue impact to the General Fund of £3.4 million."

Before considering any tax or service charge increases, we of course ensured the Council was running as efficiently as possible. To that end, we have found over £1.7 million of General Fund efficiency savings, as detailed in the report. This is on top of £1.3 million of efficiencies that were already budgeted for from last year. In any normal year that would be a considerable achievement but, nevertheless, further measures are needed to close the budget gap.

Cabinet has already agreed changes to our waste strategy that will generate savings of £1.2 million per annum, which will contribute significantly to closing that budget gap. In implementing charging for garden waste, we are not, however, cutting a service. We want to be able to give people choice in whether to participate, while as part of an overall strategy, we intend to drive up the Borough’s recycling rate.

The Council is also currently funding two services for which our residents are already being charged via other precepts; namely street lighting and additional police officers. The Council is no longer in a position to continue to finance services which other bodies are obliged to provide.

"Additional assistance with the revenue position has been provided by the Conservative Government."

With regard to the extra police officers, since a previous Conservative Administration undertook this initiative, there has been a substantial increase in the numbers of police officers in Essex, matched by commensurate rises in the policing precept that residents are paying. This, we feel, negates the necessity to boost local numbers. Essex Police is now the largest it has ever been in its history and residents are already paying for this through the precept levied by the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

With regard to street lighting, the cost of this to Basildon taxpayers, due to increased electricity costs, has nearly doubled. The removal of funding from both police and street lighting will be mitigated by the Council continuing to fund our Community Safety Wardens, who are actively dedicated to disrupting criminal and anti-social activity across the Borough.

In addition, we will be introducing car parking charges at Wat Tyler Country Park. The charges, however, will not be punitive - just £1 - and will enable people to stay as long as they like each day to enjoy the facilities at the park.

Additional assistance with the revenue position has been provided by the Conservative Government, with a 10.1% increase in business rates support, as well as a funding guarantee that ensured no authority receives a settlement less than 3% more than last year. Outside of assistance with the Council’s finances, the Government has also provided an extra £350,000 for support payments to vulnerable households, of which £240,000 will be distributed to those in receipt of the Council Tax discount and £110,000 being used to add to the Council’s fund for Exceptional Hardship Payments.

The final piece of the General Fund budget to address the budget gap will be to increase Council Tax by 2.97%. This Conservative Administration has always tried to keep Council Tax frozen or rises as low as possible, so to propose such a rise is regrettable. But in the current circumstances, and despite all the efficiencies made, unavoidable. The below graph demonstrates how, over the last 10 years, the rate of increase of the Council Tax has failed to keep pace with CPI, while if it had increased by the allowable amount each year, it would now be 11% higher. Clearly this is of benefit to the residents but, in the long run, it has reduced the financial flexibility available to the Council that is required in the current situation.

With regard to the rent increase of 7% for housing tenants, the following graph illustrates the dangerously low position the HRA reserves would reach if such a rise was not implemented. As in the case of the General Fund, external cost pressures have increased substantially and, if we are to maintain projected repairs, maintenance and development, this would deplete the reserves if the rent did not increase to cover it. Like the Council Tax, four years of rent cuts from 2016 onwards have reduced the financial flexibility available to the HRA. Almost all of the funding for the HRA can only come from rental income.

Despite all of the financial pressures, we will not be cutting core services and nor will we be cutting our investment programme. We will still be investing the remaining £5.6 million in a new swimming pool in Pitsea. The remaining £300,000 for new skate parks in Pitsea and Billericay. The £1 million to complete the Laindon Community Centre rennovation. £750,000 on maintenance of community halls. £3.3 million to implement our forthcoming Car Parking Strategy. Our flagship £40 million Safe & Sound estates regeneration programme and we will continue to spend £900,000 a year on new play equipment in play areas across the Borough.

Furthermore, we will contribute funding towards making the weekly closure of Wickford High Street for the market a permanent fixture, as well as providing investment in parks and public safety in that town.

We will also continue to support the Business Rate costs for the Ukrainian relief effort based at Eastgate for another year and ensure there are capital and revenue funds available to celebrate the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.

"Despite all of the financial pressures, we will not be cutting core services and nor will we be cutting our investment programme."

Every Council, business and family in this country is facing the same pressures as Basildon Council and we add to our residents financial burdens with great reluctance but we have implemented changes with an underlying rationale to first and foremost maintain services and investment, not to arbitrarily slash and burn, while still keeping the Council solvent and avoiding the fate of some other Councils, who have issued Section 114 notices or been given leave to increase Council Tax by many times our own. It is also fortunate we did not implement the previous Administration’s plans for the financially risky Youth Zone, which would have added £400,000 a year to the revenue costs of the Council. 

It is telling that, at last night's meeting of Full Council, Labour and other Opposition councillors spent hours criticising the measures in this budget. Yet, when the opportunity came for them to present an Alternative Budget - as we always did every year when we were in opposition (fully-costed and signed off by the Council's Section 151 Officer as sustainable and deliverable) - Labour presented nothing but a minor fiddling amendment, which made no attempt to stop the Council Tax rise, did nothing to stop green waste charges, or keep the street lights on, or reverse any of the other difficult decisions we have taken and that they had spent all night saying they were against. What conclusions should we draw from that? If they thought these measures are unnecessary and avoidable, they had every opportunity to explain how they could be avoided. They have had an entire year to draw up a fully-costed Alternative Budget. They have exactly the same access to professional officer advice as the Administration does. What a Labour Administration do differently?.. Answer came there none. In fact, they spent 40 minutes dithering about at the meeting trying to cobble together their feeble amendment. They did not even turn up to the meeting with that half-hearted effort properly prepared. 

Basildon Conservatives will always strive to balance the books as best we can, whilst still delivering on the aspirations of the hardworking people of this borough.

You can read full details of the budget and watch the live webcast of the meeting here.