Our budget for 2022/23 was approved by Council at its meeting on 31 January as part of our Medium Term Financial Plan.
The ongoing impact of the Covid pandemic has still created some uncertainty for services such as our leisure facilities but we are pleased to note this is improving as the year progresses. The national settlement from the Government was another rollover which did provide some stability for us in setting the 2022/23 budget.
This support, along with our strong and effective culture of financial management across the Council has allowed us to once again set a balanced budget for 2022/23. We do have challenging savings targets to meet in future years and the Council’s Efficiency Plan, which forms part of our medium term financial plan, demonstrates our commitment and planning towards retaining a balanced financial plan. Although by focusing on efficiencies, we’re striving to minimise any impact on frontline services and avoid any redundancies.
The Council’s Leader, Cllr Alex Dale commented on the budget - “We are really pleased to have been able to once again adopt a balanced budget that will meet the needs of our residents and businesses alike.
“Officers and members at the Council have worked incredibly hard to make this happen alongside the stability that the Government’s financial settlement has provided this year.
“Council tax setting is always a difficult decision. Providing high quality services is hugely important to us but we have to balance this with the rising costs and inflation that we an organisation are experiencing alongside our residents. We have therefore approved a below-inflation Council Tax increase of £5 (2.58%) on a Band D property this year. We believe this achieves a balance between ensuring the sustainability of our vital services, whilst also trying to keep to a minimum the impact on the pockets of our residents, many of whom we know are facing challenges of their own.”
“We have also taken the decision to continue to follow government guidance when setting council house rents with an increase of 4.1% in 2022/23. The guidance which came into force in 2020, allows for increases of CPI + 1%.
As with council tax setting this is always a difficult decision for us. Setting the right level of rent is fundamental to ensuring that our council homes remain well maintained and providing high quality housing services in partnership with Rykneld Homes is hugely important to us. But we do have to balance this with the rising costs and inflation that we are experiencing, as well as the impact of previous years’ reductions”.