The Government yesterday (Thursday) announced how much funding (Local Government Finance Settlement) will be given to local authorities across the country in the financial year 2015-16.
The reduction of £13.5m is in line with the figures quoted by the Isle of Wight council over recent weeks at budget consultation meetings and will wage cuts, job cuts and changes to services provided.
The Government’s defence
Defending the cuts, the minister responsible, Kris Hopkins, argued that councils had achieved balanced budgets in 2014-15, and, he said, the “majority of residents remain satisfied with the way their council has run things”.
Councils would be urged to freeze council tax once again. If councils choose to increase their council tax by more than 2% they will have to hold a local referendum to seek the views of residents.
Burbage: “Reduced along the lines we were expecting”
Dave Burbage, Isle of Wight Council managing director, said:
“We have received notification of the provisional local government finance settlement for 2015/16 which sets out grant figures for the next financial year. We need to spend time working through the figures in detail, however it is clear that government funding has reduced along the lines we were expecting.
“In overall budget terms the council still needs to find revenue savings as previously projected of some £28 million over the three financial years 2014/15 to 2016/17, of which £13.5m falls in the next financial year of 2015/16.”
Stubbings: “Naturally very disappointed”
Councillor Steve Stubbings, deputy leader of the Isle of Wight Council, said:
“We are naturally very disappointed with today’s announcement. With less funding from the government and increasing costs, it is more important than ever before to focus our resources on the areas we have identified as most important – keeping children safe, improving education, protecting our most vulnerable residents, growing the economy and tourism and making the Island a safer place – ensuring we obtain best value for money for the tax payer in everything we do.
“We are in the process of analysing feedback from our recent budget consultation events and survey and will be taking into account today’s news of our government funding allocation as we continue our work in developing a budget for the next financial year. It is no easy task and it is inevitable that we won’t be able to deliver all of the services we currently provide, however by focusing our resources on key priority areas and by working in partnership with others we believe we can continue to deliver improvements in our priority areas as we strive to make the Island a great place to live, work and visit.”
Image: 401(K) 2012 under CC BY 2.0
