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Council outlines balanced budget & plans.

A “balanced and realistic budget that delivers for residents” has been agreed by councillors on Castle Point Borough Council.

At a special meeting of Council on Wednesday evening (15 Feb), a comprehensive set of spending measures was approved as part of the budget for the coming financial year.

As well as ensuring the continued delivery of valued services, councillors committed to invest further in the borough’s future. They created a £200k fund to enable the council to start moving towards becoming carbon neutral and agreed to invest £9k in moving to a zero-carbon energy tariff. Further sums were also agreed so the borough’s Highway Rangers continue to operate and consultation and engagement on the new Castle Point Plan is as comprehensive as possible.

A rise of 2.96% was agreed to Castle Point Borough Council’s portion of the overall council tax bill.

Cllr Steve Mountford, Cabinet Member for Resources, said: “We have set out a clear, comprehensive and credible budget. It is balanced and delivers for our residents. 

“We have kept the use of our reserves to a minimum. We have taken the conscious decision to use our reserves only to invest in things we are certain will provide benefit and value to our residents.”

As part his budget speech Cllr Mountford outlined the financial challenges the Council will face in future years with forecast budget gap of £1.2m for the 24/25 financial year. He explained the impact of inflationary pressures and how the Council is already working to balance the books through changes to the way it delivers services and its upcoming Council-wide transformation programme.

During debate on the budget councillors expressed how mindful they were of the financial difficulties currently facing households. A below inflation rise of 2.96% was agreed for the Council’s proportion of residents’ council tax bills.

Cllr Dave Blackwell, Council Leader, said: “We know household budgets are under pressure. This is the lowest of all the rises on the council tax bill. It should be remembered that, despite us being the collecting authority, only a small proportion of council tax revenue remains with us.

“For the next financial year the average cost of council tax for a Band D property will be £2,057.  Of this only 14 percent, or £282, goes to Castle Point Borough Council. The rest goes to the County Council and to pay for our police and fire service.”

As part of the budget report councillors were given figures as to some of what the Council has delivered in the past year. This includes:

  • 5.4. million waste and recycling collections
  • 9,000 litter bins emptied
  • 583 fly tips removed
  • 64,000 calls received to the contact centre
  • 650 planning applications determined
  • 2,500 building control inspections
  • 5,850 swimming lessons at Council leisure centres
  • 10,000 housing benefit claims and amendments to existing claims processed.

See the full budget here.