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Urgent work is already being done to balance our budget but we’re calling on the government to give North Somerset a fair increase in funding.
In the last decade, our funding from the government has more than halved – at a time when demands and costs for services have increased significantly.
We get less core funding per home than other neighbouring councils and have lower council tax rates than them.
This means we’re losing out in millions in funding compared to neighbouring authorities.
We know the government is listening but we're calling on them to do more, and more quickly, to:
- increase the level of core funding they provide to local councils
- develop a fairer funding system so North Somerset gets its fair share.
Please sign our Fair Deal petition and make your voice heard.
The petition will then be sent to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Balancing the budget
Millions of pounds in savings and increased income have already been identified to balance the budget for this financial year and future ones, but more is still needed.
Our forecasts show continued increasing costs and demand have already increased our budget gap over the next three years.
Very tough decisions need to be made, including millions of pounds in efficiency savings, service transformations and changes to staffing structures to cut costs.
Residents and businesses will see these impacts, such as reducing grounds maintenance, changes to street cleaning and a review of our library services.
If we don’t do this, we’re at risk of a Section 114 notice – when a council’s expenditure is more than their income in a financial year.
When that happens, the government steps in and has the power to cut services as well as increase taxes and charges
Services can be reduced to ‘essential’ only, ones we have a legal duty to provide.
This could mean cuts to street cleaning and maintenance, closure of parks and play areas, closure of CCTV monitoring, or reduced hours for our leisure centres, libraries, recycling centres.
The government can also decide to increase council tax by more than the usual set limit, even up to 10 or 15 per cent.
We’re working urgently to avoid a section 114 notice and the significant impacts it would have on you.
How are we in this situation?
Like many councils across the country, we’ve faced years of national budget cuts, increased demand and significantly increased costs.
Since 2010, we’ve found more than £195m in savings – making us a streamlined council already.
In the last 14 years, we’ve cut staff numbers by a quarter. While this can help to save money, it also means delivering services is harder and takes more time.
At the same time, the need for services - especially for vulnerable children and adults, and the cost of providing them - has continued to go up.
We simply can’t afford to deliver all services in the same way we used to.
Have your say
How would you balance the council’s budget?
Savings plans of more than £45.8m have been announced and we want to know what you think.
Feedback is needed on all options – the savings proposals listed, whether you’d support a further increase in council tax, would consider a voluntary contribution to help pay for services, what the council’s top priority should be and how the savings proposed could affect residents.
As well as visible services such as bin collections and road maintenance, there are hundreds of other services we provide every day - from tackling homelessness to delivering social care, from supporting schools to running leisure centres.
We’ll always do our best to prioritise services for the most vulnerable people but to keep supporting and caring for the increasing number of vulnerable adults and children in North Somerset, we have to consider increasing income and spending less on other services.
Complete the survey online by 5pm on Monday 13 January.
Feedback from the consultation will be considered, along with any equalities impact assessments, before final decisions on the budget are made in February.
Potential devolution deal
Proposals for the future of local councils was set out by the government this week.
On Monday (16 December), the government published its English Devolution White Paper.
It includes plans to devolve power from Westminster and Whitehall to strengthen local resilience and covers transport, skills and employment support, housing and planning, environment, climate change and both reforming and joining up public services.
We have already asked the government to support a new devolution deal with the West of England Combined Authority area and are now calling on government for us to be considered a priority.
The shared economic geography of the West of England and North Somerset, together with established cultural and transport links, means local leaders can act at the scale needed to effectively deploy their powers.
The government will announce areas included in the Devolution Priority Programme in due course.