At the time of writing this column, the council Cabinet have agreed the proposal that we will make to the council for the budget for the next financial year.
We have set out how we intend to spend the £188m budget to support residents over the next financial year, and to achieve the ambitious Swindon Plan missions to build a Fairer, Greener and Better Swindon.
We are really pleased to have received more money from the new Labour Government, as they look to stop the wasted years of austerity and start to invest in public services instead of delivering more cuts.
The key investments we will be making will be in the three key areas for the council where we are determined to improve services. These are Children’s Services, Housing and Special Needs Education.
Our Children’s Services team has seen lots of investment as we try to improve the ‘Inadeqate’ rating we got as Ofsted judged us on the performance of the previous administration. We know that years of under-investment has left too many of our council houses below the Decent Homes standard.
The amount of children with special education needs is massively increasing, and we are determined to ensure that they have the best possible support.
We are seeing more demand for the key services we have to provide, for both children and adults, and we have a legal duty to provide help. Despite that increasing demand and the much-needed investment, we have been able to identify a set of savings for the council of around £14m as we seek to make the council as effective and efficient as we can.
Even with these savings, we are facing a budget gap, and we have applied to the Government to be able to use some capital asset receipts flexibly to allow us to manage the tricky financial situation we face.
This flexibility, where we can sell those assets that we have determined do not contribute to improving the lives of residents or helping us to deliver the Swindon Plan, mean that we can ensure we protect those vital front-line services needed by residents and not have to raise Council Tax by eye-watering levels.
We have promised to run a council who will be open and transparent, and I’ll be honest with you, we still need to raise Council Tax by 4.99 percent, as most councils will be doing this year.
We couldn’t make the sums add up without doing so and we would have to cut services to those children who need our support, or our elderly residents who need more help as they age.
I know that the cost-of-living crisis is still going on and many residents are struggling to make ends meet, but the council is still struggling after years of failed austerity, and our poorest residents really need the council to be able to help them.
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