Budget special: Finance boss Russell Holland in the spotlight

With Swindon Borough Council's budget 2020/2021 having been agreed, we invited deputy council leader and cabinet member for finance Russell Holland to answer some pressing questions about how your money is allocated, how it will directly affect you - the council tax payer, and whether they feel they have struck the right balance between setting a fair council tax level and meeting their funding requirements.

Q - What is the proposed budget for the year 2020-2021 and how is that decided? 

The proposed budget for 2020/21 is £142m. Cabinet approved the proposals at its meeting on 5 February, and a final decision was made at the Full Council meeting on 20 February.

Q - Where does the council get its money from? What are the sources of funding and how much does the council receive?

Our budget comes from three different sources: council taxpayers, a share of the business rates collected locally and a grant from the Government. Last year (2019/20), we received £103.2m from council tax, £35m from business rates and £4.3m from the Government. 

Q - Will council tax need to increase? What will the average band D council tax home now pay (compared with 2019/ 2020) 

I realise that people are not going to be happy about paying more Council Tax, I can only assure them that the vast majority of our budget is spent on helping those most in need.  In particular, adults with serious social care needs and vulnerable children who very much need and deserve our help.  What this means is that most people do not see directly where most of their Council Tax goes, but I believe everyone would support helping those who need it most.

As such, as part of the budget, Full Council will be asked to approve an overall council tax increase of 3.99 per cent. Two per cent of the increase can only be spent on adult social care, with the remainder set aside for important Council services. A 3.99 per cent increase would increase the average council tax bill by £4.54 per month, excluding precepts from other bodies. The Council continues to have a fair and affordable Council Tax compared with other authorities.

Q - What are the statutory services that the council has a legal duty to provide? 

We are required to provide vital safeguarding services to protect vulnerable adults and children, such as the elderly, people with disabilities and children without families. Without these services, many adults and children would not be able to live their lives independently in a supportive environment. Some examples of these statutory services include providing foster families for children who can no longer stay with their own families, residential or nursing care placements for adults too vulnerable to live by themselves, and school transport for children with additional needs. 

Q - After funding has been allocated to these statutory services, the council is left with the difficult decision about how to prioritise the remaining non-statutory services. How is this done? Is there a way that the public can have a say in this process?

We use our budget to provide hundreds of services to the residents of the borough, these include everything from waste collection to organising school admissions.  Our priority is always to make sure that services are provided.  For example with our leisure services, we no longer provide these directly but they are still there for residents to use.  We have also safeguarded our much valued libraries and we pleased that not a single library has been closed and we have been able to introduce a new library point.  We routinely get feedback from residents both directly and through their Councillors.  Our consultations are advertised through our popular social media pages both on Facebook and twitter.

Q - Funding public services seems to be a balancing act between generating enough money for services and setting council tax at a level that homeowners feel is fair - do you feel the council has got this right?

We do our best to try to get the right balance and I am sure there will be a range of views on this.  I can only assure residents that we are very conscious that we are funded by taxpayers and do everything we can to ensure that we get the best possible value for money.

Q – How can you afford to spend millions on some projects but then reduce other services?

Many of our big projects receive external funding through grants, which we work hard to obtain from government. This money is often paid as a one-off sum and can only be used on specific schemes, meaning it cannot be used for other services. If we did not bid for this type of funding, we would be unable to make these big improvements to Swindon. Our day-to-day spending on other services comes from a separate pot of money which is made up of council tax, charges and government grants. These two pots of money have very different rules on how they can be used, which is why we can sometimes afford big projects while having to make savings elsewhere. While we recognise that we have a lot of financial challenges, we do need to continue to invest in the big projects for the future of the town.

Q – Why aren’t you investing more in the town centre?

We are conscious of the ongoing need to improve the town centre, and in February, my colleagues and I supported the biggest financial investment in our town centre for a generation. The Conservatives agreed to spend £14m in order to secure more than £30m worth of grants from Government. Ground-breaking for the first new office development in 20 years is scheduled for the end of March so residents, and business, will shortly see visible progress. There are also support for the Cultural Heritage Institute, investing in the Carriageworks where a dozen businesses are now based.