COUNCIL tax will rise by almost five per cent as East Sussex County Council (ESCC) faces a hole in its budget and requests a £70million bailout loan from Government.
At the council’s budget setting this morning (Tuesday, 10 Feb), members agreed plans which will mean job losses, millions cut from service budgets and the above inflation hike in council tax.
Among those services facing extra cuts is the roads budget, where a review and reduction of which roads across the county will be treated in bad weather will save £275,000.
ESCC has agreed extra savings totalling £3.1 million – on top of the £3.2 million from ongoing savings that will be realised in 2026/27. This brings the council’s savings total to nearly £160 million since 2010.
Councillors were told that Government reforms hoped to have made funding for East Sussex fairer, will in fact leave the county worse off because more money is being directed to other local authorities.
The budget will see £693million spent to help deliver vital services to people across East Sussex but it will only be possible if ESCC gets the additional £70 million ‘Exceptional Financial Support’ necessary to balance the books.
Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Keith Glazier said: “Asking residents to pay more is not something we do lightly but we have little choice as the Government’s fairer funding reforms have left us worse off to the tune of around £18 million.
“Despite our consistent lobbying, Government grants have once again failed to properly recognise the unique challenges and growing needs of East Sussex including it being a rural county with a large elderly population, having lower wages and some of the most deprived areas in the country.
“Having used our reserves to support the budget in previous years, we are unable to rely on that money and must now wait to hear if the Government will allow us to borrow an additional £70 million to ensure we can carry out our statutory duties.”
He added: “As we continue to face financial challenges in the coming years and the biggest reorganisation of local government in recent times, our Council Plan will play a vital role in ensuring all spending is in line with our priorities and we have a clear ambition about what we can and what we want to achieve by 2029.”
The draft plan, presented to Full Council, sets out those ambitions including further improvements to bus services, spending £240 million with local suppliers, launching a new loans programme to support businesses to grow and create jobs, developing early help programme for families with young children to support them and prevent problems from developing, and actively taking joined up health and care into communities to support people with complex needs.
The Council Plan will be finalised after budget allocations have been made and firm targets can be set. The final document will be published in March.
To save the extra £3.1m, proposals include staffing restructures in support services in Adult Social Care, withdrawal of funding from the integrated night service at the end of the current contract and a reduction in project support capacity.
In Children’s Services, a review of staffing in the education team will seek efficiencies and there is a proposal to stop payments for term-time university accommodation for care leavers in favour of alternative support.
A review of the current archive service, changes to back-office provision in the library and information service, and a review of library stock are being proposed for the Communities, Economy and Transport teams.
Reductions in staffing budgets and the reduction of property costs achieved by moving coroner courts into Westfield House, County Hall, will also contribute to the proposed savings target.
The new proposals will also affect 150 staff posts across the council, equivalent to 100 full-time posts.
In setting the budget, ESCC said it would continue to lobby Government ‘as strongly as possible for sustainable funding to meet the needs of East Sussex residents, using all available avenues’.
NB: At its budget setting meeting, Wealden District Council agreed to freeze its (much smaller) part of the council tax bill. It will use its reserves (savings) to prop up spending instead.
