Rotherham Council is facing a £6m funding gap for the coming year as it publishes its financial plan for the next 12 months.
The rising cost of energy and inflation means that government funding is still failing to keep pace with the needs of local services.
Despite that, the budget proposals this year do see significant investment in Rotherham’s markets redevelopment, and Council household waste and recycling centres. At the same time, an additional £12 million is proposed to be made available to support Adult Social Care services in a bid to ease pressure on the NHS, including additional above-inflation increases to home care providers.
The spending plans are set out in the Budget and Council Tax 2023/24 and Medium-Term Financial Strategy report, published on 30 January 2023.
A significant investment will be required for repairs to the Centenary Way viaduct, which will amount to around £1.7m, but will help ease congestion and protect this key infrastructure.
Other highlights include an investment in new refuse vehicles which have the ability to access narrower routes, which will mean more capacity to attend to homes and a more efficient collection service for residents with even fewer missed bins.
A 2% increase on Council Tax is recommended, along with a 2% increase in the adult social care precept, meaning the overall increase in bills to households would be below the Government’s maximum recommended increase for the fourth successive year. For most Rotherham households, the increase amounts to 86 pence per week.
Without this increase, the scale of budget reductions faced by the council would be around £10m.
For the people among the worst affected by the cost-of-living crisis, it’s proposed to extend the local Council Tax support top up scheme, which will provide further support to more than 14,000 low-income working-age households in the borough.
Councillor Chris Read, Leader of Rotherham Council, said: “This is a difficult year for the Council’s budget setting, just as it is for many residents in the borough. We are acutely aware of the pressures everyone is facing, so the Council is having to cut its cloth accordingly. We need to save a substantial amount of money but want to ensure that has the minimum impact on the public. With the limited room we have for manoeuvre, we are able to put some additional funding towards basic services, including household waste sites, bin collections and social care provision.
“By making these prudent choices, we can avoid reductions to libraries, or youth services, road maintenance or street cleansing, which have benefitted from extra cash over the last couple of years, so that we continue to prioritise the things residents have told us are most important to them.”
The Council’s budget proposals for 2023/24 include a revenue budget of £302m – the money the Council uses for providing day-to-day services – and capital expenditure of £611m across 2023/24 to 2025/26, which is for one-off costs on equipment or investment in longer-term developments.
Investments are proposed in a number of areas, including:
- Every Child able to Fulfil their Potential – independent travel training for young people wishing to promote key life skills, independence and reduce travel costs
- Expanding economic opportunity – significant rent reductions for market traders impacted by the flagship Markets redevelopment project
- A Cleaner, Greener Local Environment – Investing in Household Waste & Recycling Centres, improvements to bus route infrastructure to cut journey emissions and journey times and a new commercial waste recycling service.
- One Council Approach – additional customer service staff to reduce call waiting times and improvements to the Council’s digital offer and opportunity to self-serve.
The Council’s budget proposals will be considered by Cabinet on Monday 13 February and go before Full Council on 1 March.