Wednesday 14th February, 2024
Finance and figures dominate the agenda for the next Colchester City Full Council meeting taking place at the Town Hall on 21st February.
We’re talking: Final Budget Proposals 2024/25
The LibDem Cabinet has already signed off on this. The next stage is for Full Council to formally vote through the proposals.
tl;dr Labour will back the budget, the Tories will probe, but they don’t have the appetite or numbers to oppose.
There.
Running deep throughout the 400+ page document is the CCC Fit for the Future new way of working. This is lovalgov speak for cuts and increased charges.
In short, CCC is stuffed, but nowhere near as stuffed as other local authorities. The LibDem middle ground is to take a cautious approach.
Some of the headline figures for 2024/25 cover:
Net Expenditure of £24.959 million.
Council Tax increase of 2.99% – which would raise Band D Council Tax from £211.59 to £217.92.
A Housing Rent increase of 7.7%.
Fees & Charges increase 6.7%.
Plus a 3% pay rise across the board for staff.
Further down the agenda you’ll see the Increase in Members Allowances
A 3.88% increase for Members is proposed here.
Fancy that.
This means that a jobbing back bencher can expect £7576.54 per year.
The Leader of the Council has an allowance of £22,729.42 . Cabinet members are rewarded with £13,637.81.
The pecking order is then laid out:
Tory Group Leader £7071.51
LibDem Group Leader £6268.11
Labour Group Leader £5768.51
Green Group Leader £2770.91
Nice work, etc.
Other notable figures from the lengthy report include details of how the recently introduced garden waste tax has led to an annual saving of £995,000.
The General Fund revenue has a deficit of £1.991 million for 2025/26, although a (one-year) surplus of £1.310 is anticipated for 2026/27.
Hurrah for 2026/27.
It looks a little grim further ahead:
“Over the four-year period 2025/26 to 2028/29, a structural deficit of £2.771 million is forecast. This is the currently estimated sum that will need to be removed from the Council’s base budget in order to balance the budget in the medium-term.
The delivery of the 2023/24 General Fund revenue budget is proving challenging. As with 2022/23, the economic background has created multiple, unforeseen, budget pressures with the peak in inflation and higher interest rates persisting for longer than predicted by the Treasury at the time the budget was set.
This is resulting in higher costs, but also lower income from some services as disposable incomes are reduced and residents adjust their spending patterns.”
Pesky residents.
Other outgoings that caught our eye during a lunchtime flicking through of the document include £1.5m for the repair of Fieldgate Quay down at the Hythe. The long term vision here is for re-wilding.
Everything is re-wilding these days.
Plus a cool £1m is needed to repair the roof at the Moot Hall. The building is currently closed for health and safety reasons.
It’s not exactly a Sunny Colch time in which to repair the roof…
The LibDem run Council needs to set a balanced budget. Anything else will lead to a Section 114 Notice and central government stepping in.
That’s now how the LibDems do politics – especially with an overtly cautious and Centrist Leader such as Cllr Dave King.
Labour will prop up the budget to get it through Full Council.
The Tories will question and ask for more information. Some may abstain, but there isn’t any hunger for substantial opposition.
Not when it is your own party’s government that has largely led to this pessimistic outlook.
Same again next year, Comrades.
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