Rotherham Council has published its budget proposals for the coming year, pledging more money to support Streetpride and to deal with some of the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite the current challenging situation, the Council is on course to balance its budget for the coming year, meaning that it can keep the proposed council tax rise down to 1.99%, plus a further 1% rise in the government’s Adult Social Care Levy. This is below the government’s 5% cap.
The proposals due to be considered by the Council’s Cabinet on Monday February 15th include:
- No additional cuts to council services.
- Providing an extra £1.8 million for targeted service improvements in 2021/22, including an additional four street cleaning teams across the borough, additional money for libraries and to support youth work, and additional resources to cut telephone waiting times for the public.
- Responding to issues that have arisen through the Covid-19 pandemic; creating 89 new work placements for people at risk of long term unemployment, additional support for those facing food poverty, and measures to help those unable to use IT equipment.
- Freezing many fees and charges, including car parking, Civic Theatre hire prices and market rents and extending free Saturday car parking to all Council-run Town Centre car parks.
Amongst its capital investments, the Council is proposing additional funds to replace unsafe concrete streetlighting columns, up to £4.2 million to secure a further £12 million of government funding for the Town centre through the Future High Streets Fund, and an additional £1.6 million to find a new permanent home for the REACH Day Centre which is used by adults with autism and learning disabilities.
Like all local authorities, Rotherham Council has been at the forefront of the response to the Covid pandemic over the last 12 months, which has led to a significant impact on its income and increased costs for services like social care for children, older people and people with disabilities. Added pressures have led to extra spending of around £30m on pre-pandemic budget forecasts.
But Rotherham Council Leader, Councillor Chris Read explained that hard work and careful budget management behind the scenes has guided the Council to a comparatively stable position.
Councillor Read said: “Over the last decade, the Council has been forced to make cuts of more than £200 million, with more than 1,800 jobs being lost as a result. Communities like ours were amongst the worst affected. And then the global pandemic came along. Covid-19 has placed new demands on local services, damaged our local economy, and impacted on our ability to make savings in the way we had planned. Responding to that developing situation has been utmost in our minds as we have put together these plans, and a number of the measures we are proposing are intended to assist some of those most in need as a result.
He added; “Because we have changed the way the Council works and planned for the long term, this year we can avoid more cuts to services, and for the second year in a row keep our council tax rises below those in many other places. I’m pleased that over the next twelve months we can dedicate some additional funding to services that will benefit the whole community. However the pressure on social care is still significant and the long term funding of local councils everywhere remains hugely uncertain. We need the government to commit to a fair deal to fund our local services for the future.”
The Council’s budget proposals for 2021/22 include a £236m revenue budget – the money the Council uses for providing day-to-day services – and a £163m capital programme, which is for one-off expenditure on equipment or investment in longer-term developments.
The 2021/22 budget and medium term financial strategy will be considered by the Council’s Cabinet on 15th February. You can view the budget report and agenda here.
If the Council’s Cabinet approves the plans, the report will be considered by Full Council on 3rd March when the budget and Council Tax rates will be set.