Foreword
This year’s budget comes at a really difficult time.
The same increases in prices and energy costs that are affecting households also hit the Council, and the funding we receive from the government just hasn’t kept pace with those increases. As a result, the Council is facing a £6 million gap in funding for the coming year, meaning that we have to reduce spending and take difficult decisions on council tax to avoid much deeper cuts to local services.
Recently the crisis in social care across the country has really come to the fore as the pressures on the NHS have also been exposed. So Adult Social Care is once again the area of spending that we need to prioritise. This year we will spend an additional £12 million on services for people with disabilities, older people, or those needing help to live independently when they’re leaving hospital. About £2.4 million of that additional cash is raised by increasing the government’s Adult Social Care Levy by 2%.
For the fourth year running however our overall council tax increase is below the government’s cap, saving the typical household £86.15 over that time. And we are extending the council tax support available to 14,000 working age Rotherham households on low incomes.
We are ensuring that the services that people most often see and rely on are protected. We are putting additional cash into improving our Household Waste Recycling Centres and household bin collections. We are able to make smaller investments in our parks and green spaces, and our cemeteries.
Because of those choices, we can also protect our recent and on-going investments in road resurfacing and road safety, youth work, street cleaning and our Towns and Villages Fund that is improving local centres across the Borough – helping to make our communities better places for everyone to live.
Councillor Chris Read
Leader of Rotherham Borough Council
Extra support with the cost of living
With the price of essential items like energy, food, rent and mortgages going up but income not increasing at the same rate, it has been a tough time for local people and businesses. The Council has provided a number of schemes to protect people who have been amongst the worst impacted by rising costs. This has included:
- Help with gas and electricity bills through the Energy Crisis Support Scheme
- Supermarket vouchers during school holidays for the 12,000 children entitled to free school meals
- Funding for crisis food support through local foodbanks and charities
- Extra activities in libraries and public buildings for people needing a warm, safe place to go if they are struggling with the cost of heating their homes.
Full details for the local and national support available at Money matters
Energy Crisis support
4,500 people have already benefited from our Energy Crisis Support Scheme. If you’re really unable to pay your energy bill and it’s leaving you or someone you know unable to afford basic essentials like food or rent, the Council might be able to help.
To find out more please visit: Energy Crisis Support