Next Wednesday councillors will be asked to sign off the council’s budget for the new financial year.
Agreeing the budget is the most important job that a councillor must do each year. Not only do we have a legal duty to set a balanced budget, but it is also the responsibility of all councillors. If we don’t, we cannot collect or spend money to provide the services that residents across our city rely upon.
Since the Labour group took charge of the council last May, we have been focussed on the financial situation, knowing that we must find a way to achieve financial sustainability.
But we’ve not done this alone, we’ve worked collaboratively with members across the political spectrum, through the cross-party Financial Sustainability Working Group which brings forward proposals and works with officers to get to a position of a balanced budget. This approach has been praised a number of times by our independent Improvement Panel.
Therefore, it has been surprising to read comments in recent weeks from some opposition members, debating whether they can support the draft budget. All councillors have had the chance to influence our financial planning as part of FSWG, either directly as a member of the group, or via their representative.
We are operating in a political environment, so perhaps it is to be expected that all groups cannot publicly support the budget, but I call on every single member to think long and hard about the vote before them next Wednesday.
There is no magic pot of money, we must be willing to make difficult decisions about service delivery to be able to balance our budget. That doesn’t always have to be about reducing services, it might be managing demand differently, for example by putting more time and effort into prevention work.
Naturally, it will include decisions that we all wish we could avoid. However, every council nationally is in the same boat – those that will stay afloat are those where members work together for the good of the residents and are willing to make difficult decisions.
Through the consultation that ran in December and January we have listened to what residents have told us and reflected that in the budget that is now presented to Full Council next week.
A proposal to mothball the Lido has been amended, following the huge public show of support for the facility, and the proposal to close cafes in the Lido, Flag Fen, Vivacity
Premier Fitness, and the Museum and Art Gallery, which are making losses, we now propose to work with the operator to seek to achieve at least a break-even cafe offer so they can remain open.
We continue to have productive meetings with groups around the city who want to work with us to make culture and leisure attractions sustainable in the longer term, including the Friends of the Lido and the Museum. Two weeks ago, the Council Leader met with the Friends of the Museum and together they are now looking at ways we can maximise footfall into this fantastic local attraction, so that we can open it for as many days as possible each week.
All residents have a role to play in this and that is by spending money using these attractions, which offer such great opportunities to learn and/or spend time with friends and family.
We will continue to listen as we move forward, and think innovatively and creatively with the support of residents, about how we can spend the council’s £231m budget in a way which delivers greater opportunities for everyone in our city, in line with our new updated Corporate Strategy.
We are working hard locally to manage our very difficult financial situation, but it is also positive that the Government appears to be listening to our plight. The announcements that came just before Christmas in the provisional finance settlement were confirmed last week and overall it is positive news for our city.
There will be more money next year to tackle deprivation including homelessness, and extra funding for Children's Services to support our prevention work to manage demand. We’ll be getting extra money to mitigate the additional impact of the increase in employer National Insurance Contributions on our budget.
In addition, the Government has also extended the Family Hubs programme by a further year, which allows us to support even more families through our network of hubs and online information. And last week we received notification that there will be an uplift in the region of £400,000 in our Public Health grant, which is very welcome when you consider that Peterborough is underfunded in this area in comparison with similar size councils.
This additional funding is of course most welcome, and it is the most positive response from Government in quite some time to the challenges that we face in local government.
That said, our financial challenges remain, and we continue to speak to Government about a fairer funding system for local councils, with the expectation that future funding reforms will see funding more appropriately distributed.
So, I conclude with a plea to all 60 councillors who will be asked to vote on the draft budget next week. Put party politics aside and do what is right for your council and your city.
There is much to deliver in our new Corporate Strategy to create a city of opportunity for all, and the first step towards that is signing off the budget for the new financial year.