Budget Consultation 2023/24 Priorities (Phase 2)

Overview

Local authorities have faced a challenging financial context for over ten years. Since 2013/14 the Council has approved savings of £45 million.

Clackmannanshire Council, like all Councils, faces further rising costs, reducing budgets and increased demand for services. Just like your household budget, the Council is experiencing soaring inflation and rapidly rising energy, goods and services costs. For example, in March 2022 we had to budget an additional £877,000 for our annual gas and electricity, a rise of 63% on the previous year. And costs like these continue to rise.  

The settlement we receive from the government will not be enough to keep pace with inflationary pressures and we have limited ability to raise additional income in ways that will allow us to maintain all our current models and levels of service. For instance, each 1% increase in Council Tax raises about an additional £240,000 per year. To put this in context, the annual payment we make for our three academies is around £9m.

The consequence of continuing financial pressures is that we are facing a significant budget gap in the next 5 years.

The Council needs to prioritise services and budgets more than ever while continuing with transformation plans. Even where we are required in law to provide services, it is likely that the level of provision will need to be reassessed or models of delivery will look different.

Despite these challenges, through the Council’s Be The Future programme, transforming our local economy and tackling poverty and inequality are driving long term sustainable change, ensuring financial sustainability. 

The Council is undertaking a 4-phase programme of engagement to shape its budget decisions for the next 5 years.

• Phase 1: Checking with you that our priorities remain the right ones for the next 5 years or whether they need to be refined - December 2022 to 8 January 2023;
• Phase 2: In line with those priorities, engage on the changes to services  for 2023/24 – January to February 2023;
• Phase 3: Budget setting - Spring 2023;
• Phase 4: Annual engagement on the impact of budget proposals – Autumn/Winter of each year.

Why your views matter

To inform the process of budget setting by councillors, Council officers have put forward a range of options which span many aspects of current service provision.

Some of these options would result in a significant reduction from existing levels of service or removal of the service. There are also options to change the way in which some services are delivered in order to reduce costs, some of which involve working in collaboration with a range of partners.

The options are set out alongside an indication of the level of savings which would be achieved if councillors accepted them.

Officers are continuing to work to identify any further options for the coming years, as well as considering other ways of generating additional income to bridge the gap.

Your views are sought on the impacts any of the savings options put forward by officers would have on you or your community.

No decisions have been made and none will be taken by councillors until after the engagement exercise is complete.

The consultation should only take around 5-10 minutes of your time.

If you would like any further information on any of the proposals please email: consult@clacks.gov.uk

What happens next

The consultation feedback will be consolidated and shared with elected members ahead of the budget setting Council meeting to be held before the end of the financial year.