A freeze in council tax for the fourth year running, increased investment in projects to kick start the economy and job creation and higher spend on areas of adult social care. Those are amongst the headlines of Durham County Council’s proposed budget which will go before the authority’s Cabinet next week (February 6). The paper, which also outlines how the council will make increased required savings totalling nearly £190m, 2011 – 2017, will then go before Full Council on February 20 for a final decision. 

Members will hear that cuts in Government funding mean that initial forecasts of a total reduction of some 28 per cent to the budget are now more likely to equate to 36 per cent between the years highlighted above. In addition, should predicted further central Government funding cuts go ahead, that figure could be more like 40 per cent by 2017/18 representing an overall revised savings target of some £200m. 

To meet these unprecedented targets the council will stick to the plan supported by the public of protecting wherever possible front lines services while continuing to reduce management and support service budgets to balance the books. 

Leader of the council, Cllr Simon Henig, said: “I am grateful to the public for their feedback during our recent consultation which shows a high level of understanding of how we have managed spending reductions so far. However, there is no doubt there are many more extremely difficult decisions which we will have to make. We will make these while continuing our discussions with residents and businesses in the county and while protecting those who are most vulnerable as best we can.

“This includes our proposal to freeze council tax for the fourth year running, our decision to protect council tax benefit payments for a year and our increased budgets for areas of adult social care as well as capital projects to boost the economy and job creation.

“Our commitment to protect and improve our offer to residents wherever we can is also evident through the announcement of two new household waste recycling centres at Crook and near Barnard Castle and a new customer access point for Stanley as well as our investment in Newton Aycliffe.” 

The decision to protect council tax benefits to the most vulnerable households in the county for an initial one year period was approved by the authority’s Full Council on January 9, 2013. 

To date Durham County Council has already saved more than £90m of the required overall figure. 

However, members will be advised that precise planning continues to be difficult in light of uncertainties surrounding some funding and complexities around the revised formula for public sector grants. The council’s Medium Term Financial Plan balances the budget for 2013/14 and the authority is committed to further widespread consultation this autumn to identify where the remaining savings should be found. 

Throughout the process of budget reductions the council has consulted with residents. Most recently public feedback was sought so that the authority could understand how people had been affected by reductions or changes to services so far. 

This was done via the councils 14 Area Action Partnerships, the Citizens’ Panel and targeted questionnaires. 1,500 people responded and the results revealed there is a high level of public understanding of how the authority has managed a very difficult process. Included in the responses received was the fact that some 40 per cent of people felt that the introduction of Alternate Weekly Collections for refuse and recycling had had a positive impact on them, with only 12 per cent reporting a negative impact. The remainder reported no impact at all. This change alone is already saving the council over £2m a year.               

Despite the financial pressures the council has been able to maintain a significant capital investment programme of £159m in 2013/14 in line with the council’s regeneration and job creation priorities.  The programme is fully funded from capital grants, capital receipts from the sale of council assets and some prudent borrowing. 

A full list of new projects plus more information on the savings and budget plan are available at http://democracy.durham.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=154&MId=6695&Ver=4