Council outlines plans for £14m cuts in budget

Southend City Council has had to make savings to deal with a permanent new funding pressure of £19m in 2024/25

Southend City Council has set out plans for £14m in savings that will see jobs and some service cuts in the coming year.

The proposals are on top of £8m that had to be clawed back in 2023 to balance the books.

Council tax is set to increase by 4.99% from April, costing a Band D household an extra £80 a year.

Most charges and fees from wedding ceremonies to garden waste have increased in January by 10%. However, parking charges will remain flat and plans to close libraries have been put on hold for 2024.

'financial situation is dire'

Tony Cox, leader at the Conservative-run council, said the budget was "very difficult” and claimed the authority’s “financial situation is dire”.

Labour criticised the budget claiming financial balance was being achieved "by unfairly targeting services used by vulnerable people".

Under the proposals around 80 full time jobs will go including 29 council officers who have taken voluntary redundancy.

Half the posts that are expected to close will be part of an “organisational redesign” including 10 in adult social care. The job closures will see a 4.3% reduction in the council’s 1,800 workforce.

Southend’s Budget papers for 2024-25 states “there is no longer any ‘low hanging fruit’ to reduce costs in local government” and the government’s local government financial settlement in December was “considerably less than what is required” with “unprecedented levels of demand and huge increases in costs” particularly for children’s and adults social care.

Southend City Council leader Tony Cox said “it’s a very difficult budget”

The proposals include:

• Moving to fortnightly bin collections with black bin and recycling taking place on alternative weeks

• Decommissioning the Dementia Community Support Team, saving £250,000

• Closing council director posts, saving £400,000

• Increasing council fees and charges by 10%, bringing in £420,000

• Restructuring adult social care provision, saving £530,000

• Increasing burial charges by 20% and cremations by 15% bringing in £160,000

• Increasing tickets for the Pier 25p above inflation bringing in £100,000

'Good news'

Plans to close libraries, including two this year, have been put on hold for the next year. Mr Cox said refinancing the council’s debt has meant “there are no library closures planned for next year’s budget” which he described as “good news”.

Car parking charges will not increase in 2024 because the council leader says they “are already at that tipping point of being high” and Mr Cox argued if they are put up further there could be a decrease in people visiting the city centre and seafront.

Southend’s main financial pressures, like most local authorities, are from children’s and adults social care.

The council has a new permanent cost pressure of £3m in children’s services and £1.3m in adult social care. The budget report states that “no extra Government funding has been provided to respond to the unprecedented levels of increases in both the cost and complexity of social care pressures.

Services to be 'reviewed'

Council services are being reviewed to make savings.

The nine Family Centres that operate across the city are expected to continue.

Under proposals out for consultation, the weekly hour-long session at St. Luke’s Church and baby massage sessions across the city would cease. This would save £350,000 next year, the proposals say.

Southend Labour group leader Daniel Cowan described the proposals as "unmanaged decline where services are cut that are used by some of the most vulnerable people in the city.

"We fully oppose closing family centres or reducing the vital services they provide."

Southend Labour group leader Daniel Cowan said the budget proposals will hit "the most vulnerable people in the city"

Southend City Council still has a shortfall for the current financial year of £6m. It is expected the gap will be funded by dipping into the council's financial reserves.

The budget report notes that Southend “ended the last financial year 2022/23 with the highest level of reported service overspend, since it became a Unitary Authority on 1 April 1998”.