October 2023 cabinet budget release

Services to the people of Norfolk will be protected as much as possible, despite the county council's £46.2 million savings target.

That is the message from Norfolk County Council, as the cabinet prepares to discuss savings proposals amid "substantial uncertainty over funding".

A report to cabinet says that the council faces a "significant challenge" to develop a budget for 2024/2025, ahead of further announcements on funding from the Government, later this year.

Councillor Andrew Jamieson, the council's deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, said: "Despite major uncertainties, the proposals set out in this report make a significant contribution towards our £46.2 million savings target and will enable the council to continue to deliver key services for Norfolk's residents. We will balance the books, as we always have done.

"I am determined that we should concentrate on transforming the way the council works and, wherever possible, reduce the impact on the services that people receive.

"This gets tougher and tougher to achieve, after more than a decade of reduced funding. All councils are facing these pressures and that is why we continue to press for multi-year settlements and fairer funding, so that the Government can give us more certainty when planning our budgets."

Pressures facing the council include:

• Price inflation of £12.5 million, including £7 million in adult social care and £3.2 million in children's services
• Demographic pressures, including £5.5 million in adult social care and £9.5 million in children's services

So far, £26.5 million of savings have been proposed and the remainder will be developed over the next few months:

• Adult social services, £14.2 million
• Children's services, £4.8 million
• Community and environmental services, £5.5 million
• Strategy and transformation, £0.9 million
• Finance, £1.0 million

Public consultation on the budget will be undertaken over the autumn.

The current proposals include a Council Tax increase of 4.99 per cent, including the adult social care precept of two per cent.

The council is waiting to hear whether more funding will be provided in the autumn statement in November, or the provisional local government funding settlement in December.

The council's scrutiny committee and select committees will comment on the budget proposals, before cabinet finalises the proposals in early 2024 and the full council makes a final decision on the budget in February.

Cabinet will consider the report when it meets at 10am on Monday, 2nd October. You can watch the meeting, live or afterwards and read the reports.