Residents In Hastings And Rother Urged To Have Their Say On Budget Proposals

Anyone who lives or works in Hastings or Rother is encouraged to have their say on budget proposals for 2024/25.

In Hastings, the council is facing a serious financial situation with the cost of temporary accommodation continuing to rise dramatically and 'difficult decisions' on the horizon in order to try to balance the budget.

The budget consultation is happening earlier than usual this year to allow time for savings to be identified and implemented before the start of the 2024/25 financial year.

The proposals detail how the council will save £4m next year including moving to more shared services with other councils and organisations to help reduce staffing costs and improve resilience and capacity.

To help residents have their say and find out more, there will be an open event at Stade Hall on Tuesday 28 November from 1pm to 7pm where people can speak to councillors and council officers about the budget proposals.

Cllr Paul Barnett, leader of the council, said:

“Even though we have to save £4m next year, I am determined to protect frontline services like housing, street cleaning and parks, so the focus will be big savings in our back office costs. We are starting this consultation earlier than usual this year so we can make sure the decisions are implemented for the start of the financial year and ensure savings are fully made. We usually ask for comments on an updated corporate plan when we discuss the budget, but this year we need to make the budget decisions before we can commit to an updated corporate plan.

“We will continue to talk to the government about additional support for our increasing housing costs, but while these conversations are on-going, we have to make difficult decisions to ensure we can balance our budget without additional financial support.

“We are not proposing to spend council reserves to balance the budget. Recent events have shown that we need to have money for emergencies, so we will be working hard to balance the budget without spending our reserves.

“I would encourage all residents to read the details of our budget proposals and to let us know what you think. If you have questions, please come along to our public event and talk to councillors and council officers about the proposals." 

You can read the full documents online at https://www.hastings.gov.uk/my-council/consultations/budget-consultation-2024/ and have your say through the online form or by emailing consultation@hastings.gov.uk. The consultation is open until 12 noon on Friday 1 December.

Comments will be summarised and included within the meeting reports for Cabinet and Full Council to discuss.

The proposals will be discussed at the Cabinet meeting on Monday 4 December and then Full Council on Wednesday 13 December.

There will be further budget meetings in February to confirm the level of council tax and to make any changes that are needed after the December meetings. You will be able to watch these meetings online at www.hastings.gov.uk/my-council/cm/.

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In Rother, high inflation and rising costs, coupled with central government funding reductions, means that Rother District Council faces a £3.8 million pound shortfall in its budget for 2024/25.

With uncertainty about how local government will be funded in the future, the council is aiming to cover the shortfall in a variety of ways including sharing services, increasing income, and saving money on back-office services.

However, given the predicted budget shortfall over the next financial year the authority will have to change the way it delivers, or even stop, some of its discretionary services.

Cllr Doug Oliver, Leader of Rother District Council, said:

“We face an extremely tough situation with a £3.8m shortfall next year.  As with councils up and down the country, our revenue budget, or everyday spend, is coming under increasing pressure.

“Just to give residents an idea, our spending on homelessness and temporary accommodation has more than tripled over the last four years to £2m, or 11 per cent of our net revenue budget.”

The Council’s budget proposals include increasing council tax by 2.99 per cent and increasing the fees and charges for the majority of council services by 6.8 per cent, which is in line with current inflation levels.

Raising council tax by 2.99 per cent would see the authority’s portion of the council tax bill for a Band D property increase by £5.94 to £204.54 a year and provide £300,000 towards the budget shortfall.

Cllr Oliver continued:

“We do recognise that our residents are facing their own challenges as the cost-of-living crisis continues and people face mortgage pressures and difficulties meeting day to day living expenses.

“But it is worth noting that less than 9p in every £1 residents pay in council tax goes towards Rother District Council services, with the rest going to East Sussex County Council, the Sussex Police Crime Commissioner, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and the Town and Parish Councils."

He added:

“Our task is to continue to provide the services our residents want and balancing the books. This is where our residents can help by giving their views via our consultation as we work towards setting a budget in February next year.”

People can take part in the consultation by visiting www.rother.gov.uk/budget24. The consultation runs until Sunday, December 17.

The results of the consultation will be considered when the final budget proposals are debated by cabinet and full council in February.