The budget is not exciting, but it set the services available for the year. The County provides vital care for the elderly, for adults and children with disabilities for those with special educational needs. Also, Highways, the Fire and Rescue service, Trading Standards and disposal of the waste District Councils collect.
The considerable cost of Covid-19 has been offset by Government grants. However, there is much uncertainty about next year’s income. Job Losses will impact Council Tax, business failures will impact Business Rates and commercial income will reduce.
There are a range of government grants for issues as wide ranging as domestic abuse, troubled families, school transport, social housing decarbonisation, roads maintenance and upgrades to encourage cycling. For all these the Suffolk shares are not yet known.
The County suffers inflation of some 3.4% and demand increases of 3.5% per annum due to an increasing and aging population, a total of some 7%. That’s around £40 million on a £600 million budget.
Council Tax, the bulk of the council’s income, will rise by 2% plus a “Social Care Precept” of 2%. The council also receives business rates which increase by CPI and it charges for some of the services it delivers. Charges will increase by +3%. The total increase in income is about of about £12.9milion so there is a considerable gap.
The hope over recent years is that “Transformation” projects could bridge the gap saving about £10 million a year but you can see that is not enough.
Transformation helps people regain capability to support themselves and provides digital means to maintain contact without travel. Much of this transformation is sound but I am concerned that an element of the “demand management” is just refusing to meet the needs of people desperate for help, often at a cost to the NHS or their families.
Covid has delayed transformation as staff were diverted to meet the immediate need but it is hoped to recover over the next three years.
Some £22M Reserves will be used to tide us over the short-term problems, an appropriate move but there are clear long term funding issues to resolve that will need clarity and courage.