2012/13 budget consultation
A 30% cut in the amount of national funding for our local
services is a key factor in why Suffolk Coastal is facing a
potential budget gap between the cost of its current level of
services and its anticipated income of nearly £2.8 million.
How do you think we should prioritise our spending? - we asked
residents to complete our online budget survey and share their
views and comments with our councillors and senior officers as they
draw up the budgets and services for 2012/13 and the years
ahead.
Full Council will set the Council’s budget and Council Tax for
2012/13 at its meeting on Thursday 23
February.
Suffolk Coastal's budget and Council Tax for 2011/12
Full Council set the Council’s budget and Council Tax for
2011/12 at its meeting on Thursday 24 February. No increase in
Council Tax, efficiencies of over £2m and a commitment to
safeguarding priority services are at the core of the budget.
The Government Formula Grant to help pay for local services has
fallen by over £1.1m to £6.3m in the coming year, and falling
income, inflation and rising costs left the Council with a budget
gap between the cost of maintaining all its current services and
its total expected income of over £2m.
The Council’s budget requirement for 2011/12 is £13.789m, down
£1.89m from last year’s £15.679m. The total Council Tax income will
be £7.436 million.
The district council part of the Council Tax will remain
unchanged at £149.40 for a Band D home, and the County Council and
the Police have also frozen their charges this year. However, the
110 or so town and parish councils in the district may have changed
their figures so people may still see a slight alteration in their
bills.
The Band D charge for a Suffolk Coastal home is made up of
£149.40 for Suffolk Coastal District Council, £160.74 for Suffolk
Police, and £1,126.53 for Suffolk County Council, giving a total of
£1,436.67 plus any charge made by the town or parish council.
The budget process
The budget process goes through a number of stages up to the
annual budget meeting of the full Council in February:
- The Council’s Policy and Development Task Group help the
Cabinet develop policy on emerging issues and assess likely
impacts. The Council’s scrutiny committees carry out thorough
reviews of the budget and pass their thoughts and recommendations
to the Cabinet.
- All employees are asked for their views on how services can be
made more efficient, how we can improve the way we work to become
more efficient, and where additional income can be brought in or
service improvements can be made.
- All residents are asked for their views and ideas through
our magazine
Coastline, and our website.
- Town and parish councils are asked for their views at special
meetings.
- The draft budget is presented by Cabinet to other councillors
for their views during December and January.
- Full Council votes on the budget and sets the Council Tax in
February.