The Chairman of the Council, the Chairmen of Committees and Sub-Committees and Portfolio Holders to answer any questions on any matters in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affect the District of which due notice has been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 13.
Minutes:
Councillor Beer to Councillor Ward, Leader of the Council
Could you please advise me and the tax payers of Babergh, if the surplus £1,400,000 pounds that you have found can be allocated to offset any council tax increase that you may be thinking of introducing in the forthcoming 2023/24 budget as our residents are already struggling with the high cost of living, energy and fuel price increases, we don’t want to be seen as empire building or just increasing our reserves?
Response from Councillor Ward, Leader of the Council
We have started to consider the 2023/24 budget but it is far too early for me to make any comment about its contents. As you will see from the 2021/22 Outturn Report approved by Cabinet in July, we have made several transfers to reserves, including setting up a new £500k Inflationary Pressures Reserve. This will be used to mitigate the impact of inflation on our finances where this cannot be achieved through funding or other income. This is a one-off solution to help mitigate the pressure in the current year. The council is facing its own energy, fuel prices and inflationary pressures and in the current financial year are likely to overspend by £800k. These financial pressures will continue into 2023/24 and beyond and are likely to increase with diminishing reserves to cover this. This will need to be considered in the wider context of the cost of delivering essential services and the funding we have available will be a major factor in any budget considerations this autumn.
We are acutely aware of the impact of the cost of living crisis on our residents and in June Cabinet approved our Cost of Living Action Plan. This is a suite of personalised preventative measures which focuses on reaching those residents who are in most in need. These don’t just focus on cost of living issues in isolation, but also on our residents’ well-being. We will be appointing a Cost of Living Co-ordinator for 15 months, funded by a Government grant, and we are among the first districts in the country to do this.
We have provided Sudbury CA with a 30% uplift in funding this year so that they can respond effectively to increasing demand.
We are able to make Discretionary Housing Payments, funded by a Government grant of £85k, to assist those on benefits who are struggling with rent shortfalls. There is a £5.1m Household Support Grant across the Suffolk system to help households with the cost of essentials such as food, clothing and utilities.
SPSL has approved an additional £1m hardship costs support to the Collaborative Communities Board for the system-wide response in Suffolk.
Finally, you will know that we have the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme which gives 100% reduction for low income pension age residents and up to 95% reduction in Council Tax for low income working age residents. Following the Cabinet decision on Monday, this will now be increased to 100% reduction – helping nearly 2,500 residents.
So, we are doing a huge amount to help those most in need. In respect of Council Tax, we always ensure that our annual increases are very modest: this year it was £3.48 pa, or less than 7p a week – less than a penny a day. Babergh’s proportion of the overall council tax, excluding parish precepts, is only 9.5%.
Supplementary question from Councillor Beer
Can you confirm that you will not spend any of the circa £1.4 million to shore up private enterprises such as the doctors surgery which is rumoured to be struggling to find financial support.
Response to supplementary question from Councillor Ward
I explained that the surplus is being put into reserves. The medical centre in Sudbury is a completely different thing altogether and I cannot comment on the progress or otherwise of that project.
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