Nottingham Council executive board approves budget to help close £32m gap

The proposals considered are to help close an overall budget gap for the next financial year of £32.2 million.

The board said it was committed to delivering its transformation programme and is investing to improve financial management.

Over the period of the medium-term financial plan, more than £10 million of transformation investment is identified to radically change the way the council operates, helping to achieve almost £60 million of savings.

A range of proposals affecting services form part of the forthcoming budget, from changes to adult social care, including more independent living support instead of residential or nursing care and reviewing fees and charges for parking, cremation and burials, leisure centres and cafes, to reviewing grants to community groups, community centres and cultural organisations and stopping collection of household bins put out on the wrong day.

It was also proposed to raise council tax by the full 4.99 per cent permitted under Government proposals – made up of 2.99 per cent council tax and a further two per cent precept specifically towards adult social care costs.

Nottingham has one of the lowest council tax bases in the country for its population size, with 80 per cent of homes in the two lowest council tax bands – almost twice the national average.

Around 19,600 households are expected to benefit from the council tax support scheme at an estimated value of £27.8 million in 2023-24.

The proposals also include temporary borrowing of £20 million of internal earmarked revenue reserves to strengthen the council’s financial resilience.

The temporarily repurposed reserves must be repaid within the term of the financial plan by 2026-27.

Coun Adele Williams, council deputy leader and portfolio holder for finance, said: “Like all councils, businesses and households, the council’s finances have been impacted by the cost-of-living crisis created by soaring inflation on pay, fuel and energy costs.

"Other pressures, including vastly diminished Government grants over the last 13 years, have also made this another challenging year to set next year’s budget and a four-year financial plan.

“With ongoing issues of social care funding, local tax payers face an additional cost on their council tax bills and we have no real choice but to set the 4.99 per cent council tax allowed by Government, which includes a supplement to help towards the increasing costs and demand for adult social care.

“Sadly this will place a further burden on local people who we know are already struggling, and won’t raise enough to properly meet local needs.

"But we get just under £100 million a year less in general grant than we did a decade ago from the Government, which seriously affects our ability to provide the services local people need – t hat’s equivalent to £694 for each household in our city .

"We are being asked to fill that gap from Nottingham pockets and from savings from service areas.

“We will continue to fight for a fairer deal for our city.”

The budget will go to the meeting of the full council for final approval on Monday, March 6.