Council Tax and spending

To respond to the challenges the council faces, we need to continue delivering services effectively and as efficiently as possible. Resident surveys have indicated that respondents found the following options as most acceptable:

• focus on early intervention and prevention
• target resources to areas and people in greatest need
• identify those services we should stop providing
• asset rationalisation – including reducing the number of buildings/offices we operate

The council’s Financial Strategy sets out our commitment to reducing the cost of services through: 

• asset rationalisation and energy transformation (reducing the number of buildings we use, and ensuring that the buildings that we do use are as efficient as they can be).
• transformation, service redesign and digitalisation (reviewing the way that we deliver services, streamlining our processes to minimise the cost of this and ensuring that we make best use of technology and digital solutions).
• early intervention and prevention (continuing to invest in preventative measures to improve outcomes and avoid the need for more intensive and costly interventions).

We remain committed to this and continue to work to reduce the funding gap by changing the way we work to deliver services more efficiently. However, with a funding gap of £73 million, it will not be possible to close this through efficiencies alone, which leaves the council with the following options to balance the budget:

• reduce the amount that we spend, by reducing or stopping certain services.
• increase the amount of income that we raise through Council Tax, fees and charges.

Neither of these options is desirable, and we want to ensure that the limited resources that we do have are prioritised to allow us to continue to meet the needs of our communities.