Council tax rise - analysis by Ben Weiszpublished at 16:42 Greenwich Mean Time 15 January 2018
Ben Weisz
Political reporter, BBC Sussex
It’s Groundhog Day at County Hall.
Every year, as is now tradition, Cllr David Elkin, the man responsible for East Sussex’s finances, welcomes local journalists into his office to brief them on his budget plans.
And every year he tells us the same story. Less grant money from Whitehall, but rising costs – particularly in adult social care. Money must be found to bridge the gap.
This year was no different. Even after the council uses new powers to raise tax by nearly 6%, it still has to find £17m in savings.
But there’s only so much you can save by providing the same services more efficiently. There’ll need to be cuts, too.
Fewer libraries. Fewer tips. Less support for carers.
But also, crucially, less of the preventative work that saves money further down the line – less money for schools to tackle poor attendance and exclusion, for instance.
Politically, this budget may be safe – though it must be voted through next month, Cllr Elkin’s Tories now have a majority.
It’s what happens further down the line that’s keeping councillors up at night. Amid rising costs and falling income, Cllr Elkin told me it’s only a matter of time before a town hall somewhere goes bust. He’s hoping the Government offers a long-term fix well before that.
