CBC have announced their budget consultation is open now through to 5 pm on the 30th January 2020, and have asked local councils to share the below information on their behalf:
- Next year we anticipate spending some £212million on local public services, this is a £16million increase from 2019/20.
- We’re also continuing to focus on efficiency with £13.6million of efficiency proposals for next year.
- But we continue to face big increases in demands, particularly in Adult Social Care as people are living longer and with more complex needs. We’re also seeing an increasing need to provide care and support for younger adults with learning disabilities when their family cares are no longer able to provide this care.
- To bridge the gap between what we need and what we anticipate in terms of income, we propose to:
- apply the Adult Social Care Precept of a 2% increase on council tax to contribute towards funding care services, and
- increase council tax by 1.95% for funding other services.
- Additionally, the consultation will highlight proposals for almost £142million of capital investments, including road maintenance, new school places and school maintenance, new care homes and new integrated health and care hubs.
A consultation leaflet has been produced to summarise the key elements of both the draft revenue and capital budgets. Additionally, a questionnaire will invite feedback on the savings strategy and the proposals for council tax. The information is available online at www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/budget2020
Feedback from the consultation will be collated and presented to the February Executive, in advance of decision making on the finalised budget which will be recommended to Full Council.