FREEZING council tax bills for families in Northumberland for a second successive year could be storing up significant financial problems for the future, councillors have been warned.
Ministers have offered the county council £3.7m in one-off grant funding in return for agreeing not to increase council tax this year.
However, continuing to accept such offers will mean missing out on recurring revenue in future years generated by council tax rises – and leave the authority facing an eventual budget shortfall.
Now the Liberal Democrat administration at County Hall says it is “minded to accept” the Government offer, but will listen to all views before making a final decision.
Executive member for corporate resources Andrew Tebbutt said: “This is a crucial decision for both the long and short-term. If we continue to accept Government offers to freeze our council tax the longer term implications for the council’s finances are considerably worse.
“We could be as much as £15.6m adrift by 2015/16, because that is not built into the base budget.” Coun Tebbutt was speaking following a meeting of the executive which approved a report setting out plans for the council to make further budget savings totalling £16.6m in the 2012/13 financial year.
The proposed cuts are part of plans to save more than £30m over the next three years, although bosses say the true figure will be nearer £51m when costs and inflation are taken into account.
The bulk of this year’s savings will come from the adult services and housing budget, which faces a £9.7m cut. A further £3.8m has been earmarked from corporate savings and both the schools and transformation budgets face a £1m cut. Public health and protection will be cut by £600,000 and the regeneration department will lose £384,000.
Coun Tebbutt said officers were confident that the savings proposed in social care – which include abolishing the current £120 maximum weekly charge for non-residential services such as transport, home and day care services - can be achieved with “minimal impact” on elderly and disabled people.
Coun Ian Lindley, executive member for adult care and wellbeing, said: “The majority of the savings in adult care will be made through changes to the way that we commission social care services. In the past costs for many care services have been higher in Northumberland than other local authorities. We believe there is scope for providers to improve and make savings with no adverse impact on the care given.”
Yesterday opposition Conservative group leader, Peter Jackson, said there was real concern that the majority of savings were being made in services for elderly and vulnerable people.
He said: “We will be having a forensic look at these proposals. Removing the cap on charges for non-residential care will have a real impact on some people in Northumberland, and could leave them having to pay thousands more a year which they can’t afford.
“We also feel the savings proposed in regeneration is the wrong cut at the wrong time.”
He said the decision on whether to freeze council tax bills was a difficult one because of the need for resources to safeguard and improve important services. The budget proposals will be considered again by the executive on February 6, before final decisions are made by full council on February 22.
We also feel the savings proposed in regeneration is the wrong cut at the wrong time
