However, as a direct result of the government’s recent intervention to provide further funding, the following proposals were approved:
- £500,000 of project funding will be made available to all arts and heritage organisations in Suffolk from April 2025 – it is intended that this funding will be available every year going forward
- £528,000 of core funding to nine arts and heritage organisations in Suffolk will end in March 2025
- £45,000 will be reinstated to support the County Music Service from April 2024
- £9 million of reserves will be used to balance the 2024-25 budget
To provide care and services for vulnerable children and adults, the next two years will see an additional £42.7 million allocated to children’s services, and an additional £29.9 million for adult services. However this means £64.7 million of savings needs to be found at the same time.
These significant savings over the next two years include:
- £11 million of staffing costs through changing the way services are delivered and restructuring across the council
- £30.6 million of additional savings from an extension of the council’s hugely successful Adult Social Care Transformation programme
Councillor Richard Rout, Suffolk County Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Environment, said:
“Balancing this budget has been incredibly tough. But by prioritising our spending on those in greatest need, they will hopefully not find life incredibly tough.
“Focusing on those children who have extremely demanding needs and no-one else to turn to, is the right thing to do. The same is true of adults who we want to help lead independent lives, or to have the best quality of life possible.
“These are very expensive services to provide. It does not leave us with as much money as we would like to invest in every other service that we are required to deliver. We have just 23p in every £1 to maintain highways and footpaths, fund libraries, run a fire and rescue service, tackle climate change, and so much more.
“Approving the budget today is not the end of this piece of work. In many ways it is just the beginning, as we must deliver on the millions of pounds of savings we’ve identified over the next two years.”
The council’s budget will increase by 8.6% (from £693.0 million to £752.8 million), some of which is generated by a 4.99% increase in the council’s share of Council Tax, and additional Government funding.
The increase of 4.99% to Council Tax is made up of a 2.99% increase in general Council Tax and a 2.00% increase dedicated to funding adult care. This will see the council’s share of a Band B property’s bill rise by £1.12 per week, compared to last year.
