As you are well aware, local government finances, particularly for upper tier authorities like Central Bedfordshire Council, are under immense pressure.
Increasing demand and rising costs in children’s services, adult social care, special educational needs and school transport are causing many councils to have to drastically reduce their services. Central Bedfordshire Council has seen an unexpected increase in demand for adult social care, resulting in a 35 per cent increase in costs. Furthermore, we have witnessed a 70 per cent increase in costs of residential care for children in our care in just one year.
Adult Social Care and Children’s Services make the biggest difference to vulnerable people’s lives, and they are services we have to provide by law. They are also costly services to deliver – almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of our revenue budget is already spent on these two areas alone. Absorbing more and more pressure is not sustainable.
Without making any further efficiencies, our costs are forecast to be £32m more than our income next year.
We have already taken action to stop all but essential recruitment and spending and we’ve reduced the number of senior managers at the council. This is still not enough to bridge the gap.
We have no choice but to make further changes so we can continue to meet the demand for the services we are required to provide by law.
Our draft budget, which has been published today, sets out some changes to services and that we plan to reduce our costs by £13m by reshaping the organisation.
This will mean removing non-essential spend and reducing the number of staff we employ across different services across the council. This could mean the council will be slower to respond to queries and the council will have reduced capacity to deliver new projects and initiatives. However, we believe this is a price worth paying to preserve key public services and ensure finances are set on a firm footing for the years to come.
These changes will be subject to staff consultations so the detail about which services and which roles cannot be provided at this time.
A summary of the draft budget is also published on our website at www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/budget
The Executive will consider the draft budget on 3rd December and any changes will be reflected in the consultation. The capital budget will be published on 23rd December and considered by the Executive on 7th January.
Both budgets will be open for public consultation from 7th January until 4th February 2025. Residents can have their say on our website or pick up paper copies from our libraries when the consultation is open.