Question
There still appears to be a lack of clarity and commitment from the Government to long-term funding for Council Covid-related expenditures. Some of these vital activities that the Council has funded from its own resources are particularly important for less economically well-off members of our Borough. Does the Council share this concern and if so, what practical actions can be taken to address this issue and particularly to avoid cuts that could disproportionately harm the poorest, forced upon the Council by insufficient Government support?
Minutes:
Question
There still appears to be a lack of clarity and commitment from the Government to long-term funding for Council Covid-related expenditures. Some of these vital activities that the Council has funded from its own resources are particularly important for less economically well-off members of our Borough. Does the Council share this concern and if so, what practical actions can be taken to address this issue and particularly to avoid cuts that could disproportionately harm the poorest, forced upon the Council by insufficient Government support?
Answer
In March of this year, the Government pledged to support local authorities through the Covid-19 pandemic. They have made available £4.3 billion to local authorities and Wokingham Borough Council has received support in the form of a direct grant of £8.3 million. In addition to this the Government have announced a variety of other measures, some offering financial support, such as the ‘75p in the £’ compensation for loss of income, to passported grants to local businesses and care providers, and also deferring payments to assist with cashflow issues.
That said, the Council has had to front fund a significant amount of support to residents, suppliers, partners (such as Places for Leisure) and care providers, and this will impact on the Council’s General Fund Balance, hence why we are forecasting £5.1million for the end of the year. The money it holds to cover such crises, which is the reserves obviously, where every effort is being made by the Council’s Officers to secure funding to cover these pressures and manage down costs, it is still anticipated that the Council’s general balances will be depleted at year end. Furthermore, the impact of Covid-19 does not fall neatly into one year and as such its impact will be felt strongly as we formulate our budgets for 2021/22 and beyond.
I can assure the Councillors and the residents of the Borough that we will continue to make representations to Government for the funding we need in both this year and future years. In addition, we will need to continue with our diligent measures of financial management: to target expenditure where it is most needed (which are those that are suffering most financially); seek value for money in all we do; be efficient’ be innovative; and work with our partners to create the most effective service delivery options.
Work is already underway on setting the Medium Term Financial Plan, which will be coming to Overview and Scrutiny in the not too distant future, for the next three years and Officers are working to maintain a financially sustainable Council with a balanced budget whilst minimising the impact on residents. Inevitably this, as with all Councils at this time, will mean having to make some difficult decisions, which will make the targeting of resources to those most in need an even greater imperative. As stated, a second wave of the virus will only make matters worse, and of course, what we have seen in the last couple of days, we are nowhere near out of the woods. I think it is very important that people understand that if we as a Council do not control our costs and maintain our costs, we will be broke, and if we are broke then we are no good to anybody.
Supplementary Question
By way of trying to replenish our reserves in due course, is it likely that Council related services are to see an increase in cost to people using those services, and if so are there any measures in place, or could be put in place, that would help those that are from poorer backgrounds?
Supplementary Answer
There are a number of ways that the Council raises money. One of them is via investments and another one is via fees and from council tax. Council tax is capped and so there is only so much we can raise with that. A number of the services we provide, we are only allowed to cover the cost of those services, especially if they are statutory, so we can only raise those in line probably with inflation or what we are experiencing. There are opportunities to raise some of our other fees where we offer pretty good value for money, but we understand during this time everybody is going to be in the same situation.
Wherever we possibly can we will make concessions as we are looking to do at this current moment. There is a consultation going out with the Council Tax Discount Scheme and that will be coming forward shortly to show you what we are doing with that.