This week we published a draft plan for how we can deliver a balanced budget in the new financial year and remain in charge of our own destiny.
It’s not been easy to get to this position and we have had to look at every area of spending, including the most unpalatable, to make the savings needed to eradicate a £23m budget gap next year.
If truth be told, we wish we didn’t have to propose some of the ideas that are in the consultation document, but with our budget situation as severe as it is, we are left with very little choice.
To put it into context, in the coming financial year, we originally forecast a budget gap of £3m. This has increased significantly, rising to £23m, because of high levels of demand in areas such as Housing Needs, Home to School Transport, Adult Social Care and Children’s Social Care. This, coupled with high interest rates which have pushed up the cost of borrowing and refinancing debt, plus higher costs for materials and supplies and services, are all adding huge pressure.
In 2025/26 we remain focused on delivering services that support our communities and vulnerable people and investing in our city in a way that delivers opportunities for all. We are putting more money into Children’s Services to support it to improve as quickly as possible in line with the recommendations from Ofsted.
We’ll also be spending a significant amount of money on care for the elderly and vulnerable and we’re prioritising growth and regeneration of the city, knowing it will attract more and better paid jobs for our residents and put more money into our local economy. We’ll also be providing leisure attractions, keeping the streets clean, emptying bins and recycling, tackling rogue traders and keeping the roads moving, to name just a few of the services we provide.
But as I have said before, we cannot continue to provide everything we once did, and this draft budget is a reflection of that. And it is a draft – nothing is yet set in stone.
We are also asking residents for their views on increasing council tax above the 4.99% referendum limit. Again, this is not something we want to do nor will do lightly, as we know that residents are also feeling the squeeze on their finances. It may, however, mean that we can avoid some of the unpalatable changes to services, or reduce the risk in next year’s budget, if we can levy additional council tax.
These are all just proposals at this stage, and we want to hear from you as part of the consultation which Cabinet will be asked to launch next Tuesday (17th).
The Labour government has signalled that it is listening, and several promising measures were announced at the end of November in the Local Government Finance Policy Statement which gives hope for a brighter future – a future where councils get the funding they need to provide important services for a growing and more complex population.
However, for now, with the pressure very much upon us, we must remain focused on remaining in charge of our destiny (which means avoiding issuing a Section 114 notice, pausing all but essential spending) and transforming the services that we offer so that we can manage demand.
So please, take the time to read the proposals document and tell us what you think when the consultation opens next week. Your feedback will help inform the decisions we make when all councillors approve the budget on 19 February 2025.
Regular readers will know how excited I am by the city’s on-going growth plans which are set to take another giant leap forwards.
At next week’s Cabinet meeting members will be asked to agree plans to sell the Railway Goods Shed building at Fletton Quays and work with a developer, Farholt Goods Shed Limited, to transform the dis-used venue into a food and drinks hall.
If agreed, these exciting plans will see the Goods Shed completely re-generated into a vibrant venue for all, allowing visitors to sample a range of different dishes from a host of unique and independent street food vendors in one location, set in a large communal space.
The project will offer an incubator for small local hospitality businesses, drive visitor footfall in the area and be highly visible along the riverbank for car and bus users.
These plans will dramatically improve the public realm and river edge, helping the area become an extension of the city centre, acting as a steppingstone and a destination for many people.
The project is part of our £22.9 million Towns Fund programme – which is government granted – to deliver projects across the city, which is very much a work in progress.
The Food Hall scheme is at an early stage and the sale could take several months. It will become one site of The Vine, which also includes transforming the Central Library. However, if all goes to plan, we have targeted completion of the work by February 2027.
With the on-going development of Fletton Quays and several other exciting projects, such as the Station Quarter development, we are actively working to make Peterborough an even better place to live, work and spend time.