Council forced to find further £60 million savings

On 20 November the Executive agreed to make a recommendation for a 1.99% increase in the Bromley element of the council tax.

This was part of the process to finalise the 2014-15 budget, which will be considered by Full Council in February 2014. This recommendation was in recognition of the need to achieve a balanced budget in 2014/15 and to partly address the increasing ‘budget gap’ in future years, while protecting front line services.

Said Council Leader, Stephen Carr about the recommendation:

“This council is proud of its reputation for the robust way we manage our finances and refuse to resort to short term gimmicks.  Over the past three years we faced drastic reductions in government funding, high inflation and low interest rates and had to make savings of over £57 million. This was done through sound financial planning while protecting quality front line services - often to some of the most vulnerable in our borough. Demand for our services is increasing, at the same time we face further significant funding reductions and must find another £60 million savings over the next four years.

“We are determined to continue to take a long-term view and achieve a sustainable budget for 2014-15 and beyond.  As part of setting this budget we consulted with residents at our annual public meetings.  Their views informed the choices we have made in the last three years and this year many of our residents told us they accepted a rise in council tax is unavoidable. Be assured this recommendation to increase council tax is not taken lightly. Our record speaks for itself - over the years we have consistently had the lowest council tax in outer London . We will turn down the one-off bribe from government this year to freeze the tax because accepting would only store up major financial problems to be faced in future years and is not the financially sound thing to do.

“Residents also said they want us to continue to press home our argument with government about Bromley’s historically low levels of funding. Our council receives one of the lowest levels of overall government grant.  It has faced the biggest reduction in formulae grant in the last three years.  If we received the average level of funding for London our income would increase by a staggering £98 million.

“In refusing to take a short-term and arguably easier approach to managing the budget, difficult decisions must be made.  We are determined to make it the right decision on behalf of our residents.”