East Sussex County Council outlines £5.13m of savings

On Tuesday, East Sussex County Council’s Conservative-led cabinet will meet to discuss its 2019/20 budget proposals. 

The proposals include plans to raise the authority’s share of council tax by 2.99 per cent and find £5.13m of savings in an effort to balance its budget.

While still facing significant cuts, the council says its cuts will be far less severe than originally feared after receiving more one-off funding from central Government than first expected.

Councillor David Elkin, lead member for resources, said: “We’ve worked hard to ensure central Government understands the specific financial challenges we face in East Sussex, and we welcome the additional funding which we will use carefully as we plan the next three years.

“We still have to make some difficult decisions to deliver a balanced budget in 2019/20 with a careful eye on our planning for the following two years which will be a time of uncertainty and continued financial challenge.

“We know there’s a real strain on many people in East Sussex and this additional money, and our own careful management, gives us the opportunity to minimise cuts to services and the impact on our residents next year.”

According to papers the council is now expected to receive almost £10m of additional one-off funding during 2019/20.

The majority of the additional one-off funding – which comes to around £9.9m – is split into several ring-fenced grants for high-demand areas such as social care.

However, this figure also includes an estimated £1.6m of additional income, which the council expects to gain from taking part in the Government’s 75 per cent business rates pilot scheme.

In a report to be considered by cabinet on Tuesday (January 22), a council spokesman said: “These new funding streams are very welcome and show that the lobbying the county council and others have been carrying out is starting to be effective.

“They are however one-off. They will be used as part of the measures to close the funding gap for 2019/20 and across the three-year planning period.”

The report adds that the one-off funding does not affect the council’s three-year savings estimate, which predicts a budget deficit of £21.2m in 2020/21 and 2021/22.

Where the cuts could fall.

The papers to be considered at cabinet on Tuesday (January 22) include details of the £5.13m savings proposed for the 2019/20 budget.  For a breakdown of where potential cuts would fall:

Communities, economy and transport – £2.34m On paper, almost half of the savings proposed for 2019/20 are set to come from the council’s communities economy and transport budget.

The most noticeable change is likely to be an increase in parking charges around the county, which is expected to bring an additional £1m into council coffers.

Major changes are also proposed to the way the  highways maintenance service is funded, with the cost of conducting highways investigations to move to the council’s capital budget.

While an accounting exercise, the move is intended to free up more resources for day-to-day services by saving around £889,000 from  the council’s revenue budget.

Proposals also includes £32,000 of cuts to the East Sussex archives and records service and a £31,000 reduction in funding given to conservation projects in the Ashdown Forest.

Meanwhile a £200,000 cut is proposed for the council’s concessionary travel scheme, reducing the amount spent on elderly and disabled people’s bus passes.

The proposals also include savings of £15,000 from the council’s environmental advice service and a £150,000 saving from an ongoing review of the county’s household waste service.

Children’s services – £1.049m Elsewhere services to support schools are in the crosshairs, as the council seeks to cut £1.049m from its children’s service budget.

Almost all of the proposed children’s services cuts for are set to fall within the council’s Schools Learning and Effectiveness Service (SLES).

Through SLES the council monitors local authority schools within the county, offering support and advice where needed.

But it is proposed to cut back the service by more than £849,000, limiting the council’s support to schools which are found to be ‘failing’ in some way.

The proposed cuts would also severely reduce the council’s ability to monitor school performance around the county, meaning potential problems within schools are less likely to be caught.

If brought in, a council report warns, the changes could see a fall in the already below national average attainment of East Sussex pupils and a drop in the number of good and outstanding schools.

This comes alongside a proposal to scrap the council-funded clerking service, which is expected to save around £158,000.

If approved, this would leave individual schools responsible for recruiting, training and paying their own clerks – a specialised role intended to assist boards of  governors.

The council is also proposing a £42,000 cut to its home to school transport budget. The cut is expected to fall on colleges, meaning fewer FE students will get financial support for their travel.

Adult social care – £730,000 In a controversial move, the council is proposing plans to remove its entire meals on wheels subsidy in 2019/20.

If approved, the cut would save the council around £483,000 but leave the vulnerable residents who receive the meals responsible for the full cost of the service.

The council is also proposing cuts of around £247,000 in its nursing and residential services, which it would hope to find by reviewing its current care packages. The council has warned that this process may see some residents have their care reduced or removed completely.

Business services – £1.003m Finally the council is hoping to find savings in its Orbis partnership – a deal which sees the council share some of its back room functions with Brighton and Hove City Council and Surrey County Council.

According to the budget report, East Sussex County Council is looking to save around £1.003m on the deal in 2019/20, although the details are still being discusse