County council tax set to rise by 2 per cent again as Gloucestershire braces for further £11m in budget cuts

The Conservative-led county council is again proposing to increase council tax by the maximum amount to offset deep cuts to its funding.

The plans come as part of the authority’s draft budget for the 2017/18 year, which will be debated by cabinet next week.

Shire Hall is suggesting another 1.99 per cent council tax increase – and an adult social care levy of 2 per cent on top of that.

This is equivalent to an increase of £45.25 per year or £3.77 per month for the average band D household.

It comes against a backdrop of sustained slashes to the county council’s funding from Central Government.

Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) is expected to see its funding from Government reduced by £17.3m in one year – a huge cut of 14.5 per cent.

All together this leaves a proposed budget of £397.1 million - £11.3 million less than 2016/17.

This represents an overall cut of 2.8 per cent to GCC’s total budget.

As a result, huge chunks of cash are being axed from the children and families budget.

This funding - which includes money for schools, youth support, children’s centres and early years – will be cut by 13.3 per cent, or £4.6 million.

Communities and Infrastructure – which deals with highways, trading standards, libraries, fire service and waste – will also see its budget reduced by £1.25 million.

Funding for Public Health will be cut by 2.5 per cent and money to support businesses in the county is also being reduced by 3.3 per cent.

There are some gains however, with a small 0.26 per cent increase in the budget for adult social care.

An extra £2 million will also be invested in supporting and protecting vulnerable children – an increase of 4 per cent.

The Conservatives say this will be invested into social workers and support for children in care, including intensive recovery and intervention.

Included in the draft is provision for an income of an estimated £60 million from selling assets “which will be used to repay debt and/or finance capital expenditure to avoid borrowing”. 

Before agreeing next year's budget, the council wants people across the county to have their say.

Cllr Ray Theodoulou, Conservative deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, said: “We want to improve the quality of life for people and communities in Gloucestershire.

“Our priority must be to support the most vulnerable adults and children in our county, however we also know people want us to invest in our roads.

“I think this budget finds the right balance and I want to know what local people think, so please give us your views.”

However, the Labour group on the council slammed the Tories' budget.

Steve Lydon, county councillor for Dursley, accused the authority of distorting information and figures they give to the public.

The shadow cabinet member for finance said: "To call this a budget is being generous.

“They have only given headline figures and have presented a rose tinted view of the finances.

“Readers don't need me to tell them that the funding is being cut further, they can see it in the shabby state of our roads and the lack of care for elderly residents.

“I can tell you this, if this were a Labour run county council, we would not have allowed it to get this bad. The Conservatives are out of steam and not fit for purpose.”

The charge against the Conservatives of distorting the overall view of the budget was also made by the Liberal Democrats.

Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, leader of the Lib Dem Group on GCC, said: “Behind the warm words which the Conservatives have used in spinning this new budget there is a deeply worrying story.

"That story is that the Government is slashing the money it gives to the county council. So we are left with cuts in essential services.

"The budget for Communities and Highways goes down by 1 per cent, for children's services by a massive 13 per cent and for public health by 2.5 per cent.

“These kind of figures will have a real impact on what we all as residents in Gloucestershire will see next year.

"The Conservatives have had 12 years in power at Shire Hall to sort out our roads and pavements and they have clearly failed to do so. Cutting the already meagre budget will not help at all.

"And I find the huge cut in children’s services a real concern. How will the council protect vulnerable children effectively with such a cut in funding?

"This is not the Christmas present the people of our county were expecting from their council."

Sarah Lunnon, councillor for Stroud Central and Shire Hall’s only Green, said: "The failed Austerity programme of Cameron and Osbourne continues haunt our local services, services which protect our families and keep us safe.

“The cuts forecast in this strategy will result in the people of Gloucestershire feeling poorer, feeling less safe and being less secure.

“We need a new Marshall Plan, funded by Government to invest in clean energy security and public services - to protect us, our families and provide long-term employment".

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, leader of Gloucestershire County Council, responded to the criticism, saying: “It’s a shame neither Labour nor the Liberal Democrats read the draft budget before commenting on it.

“If they had, they’d have seen spending on care for elderly residents increases by over £300,000 and for vulnerable children in particular increasing by £2.1m.

“We have had to make savings to pay for the massive national deficit the Labour party ran up in government – and that’s something the Lib Dems were very enthusiastic about when they were part of the coalition government.”

Gloucestershire currently charges £41 per year less than the average county council, including the levy.

Government is allowing local councils to continue the adult social care levy, which was introduced last year in recognition that social care continues to be the greatest pressure on local councils with more and more people requiring support later in life.

Continuing the levy raises an additional £4.98 million that can only be spent on vulnerable adults, paying for things like social and residential care.

The overall budget has been reduced by more than £11 million from this year despite the council tax hike which will increase the council’s income by almost £10 million.

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Additional figures:

Under the plans the county’s Fire & Rescue Service would see cuts of £94,000.

The draft budget says this would be achieved through redesign of management structure and reduction in attendance at false alarms.

There are also cuts to renewable energy in the county, with £300,000 being slashed from investment in LED street lighting.

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A closer look at Gloucestershire County Council’s Adults budgets:

The budget for Adults is increasing by around £300,000 – around 0.26 per cent.

The total budget will increase to £132.3 million.

A shakeup will see over £1 million pumped into ‘Other Services for Adults’ and £400,000 into protecting adults with mental health problems.

However, this is offset by cuts over nearly £1million to services for older people.

There are additional smaller decreases to services for people with physical and learning disabilities.