Council Budget Proposals 2012/13
We were in touch with a number of partner organisations and stakeholders last October, as part of a wider consultation process, with details of proposals that were being considered for inclusion in Horsham District Council’s budgets as we prepare to meet present and future financial challenges. I would like to thank everyone who gave feedback and to provide an update to you.
For your information, the responses received as a result of this consultation have been considered and a final draft budget has been prepared for consideration by the Council's Cabinet on 26 January, following which the Council, at its meeting on 22 February, will agree the 2012/13 budget. A summary of the responses to the consultation is available to download.
The full Cabinet report ("Budget 2012/13 and Medium-Term Financial Strategy") can be viewed in the Cabinet Agenda on the Agendas pages.
The proposals for savings and additional income that were considered in October have been included in the final draft budget with two exceptions; these are the reduction of £2,000 in Community Transport grants and of £15,000 in grants to voluntary organisations. Further discussions will be held with organisations in receipt of grant to see where savings can be made in future years without damaging service provision. The savings to be achieved by rationalisation of Reception services have been reduced to £10,000 for 2012/13 to allow time for further consultation with staff.
The budget report also highlights the need for further work to ensure the Council can continue to deliver services to meet the needs of our communities despite the ongoing squeeze on government grant beyond 2012/13. With a forecast deficit of some £800,000 in 2013/14, rising to £1.7m by 2015/16, action needs to be commenced immediately to look at possible solutions. This will involve the production and delivery of a robust medium-term financial strategy (MTFS) which will, in turn, necessitate a comprehensive review of all we do and how we operate.
The fact that the Council’s net budget has stood still (it has fallen when inflation is taken into account) over the last five years without significant service cuts means that there are no easy options any more. A broad-based approach is necessary - looking at all aspects of cost reduction and income generation. Our "ASPIRE" themes (see below) have guided budget preparation over the last two years and will help the Council to ensure all options are considered as we develop the MTFS.
In recent months the Council's Cabinet and the Corporate Management Team have identified the outline of a change programme comprising key projects that could deliver savings and additional income to enable us to close the projected 2015/16 deficit of £1.7m. These transformational change projects could include: reviews and redesign of services and organisational structures including different methods of service delivery; ongoing scrutiny of all our costs; expansion of our income sources wherever possible and a clear focus on customer access to our services.
The scale of the challenge to develop and implement a MTFS at the Council over the next two years is such that we cannot do so without recognising the need to “invest to save”. The organisation’s capacity to deliver change on top of increasingly demanding day-to-day-work, and against a backdrop of contraction over the last five years, means capacity will have to be created to enable the delivery of a programme to transform the organisation and enable us to live within reduced means (and to create our own resources) in the future.
It is too soon to define the details of these potential projects or to quantify the costs, timescales and the anticipated financial and other benefits. However, given the scale of the deficit and the need to ensure we can continue to deliver on the Council’s priorities, we need to ensure that key decisions are taken and implemented, or are at least well under way, by the end of 2013/14. Whilst it is too soon to add any further detail about projected timelines for individual projects within the organisational change programme, it is vital that this exercise is undertaken as soon as possible.
Tom Crowley
Chief Executive of the Council