Hope and despair as Northumberland County Council draws-up budget for 2021/22

However, the ‘dismayed’ Labour opposition is not as optimistic, saying the plans will ‘mean even tougher times ahead’.

And residents will be able to have their say during a public consultation which will start on Thursday, December 10, and run for six weeks.

The proposals, which were backed by the decision-making cabinet on Tuesday, November 10, include £8.3million of savings to balance the budget for 2020-21 plus ‘provisional efficiencies’ of £19.8million and £15.3million earmarked for the following two years. The final sign-off will come at the full council meeting in February 2021.

However, the Conservative administration says that there will also be a significant push on helping Northumberland recover and grow economically, with an emphasis on delivering a green and sustainable future for the county.

Council leader Glen Sanderson said: “We always knew the financial context was going to be challenging from 2020-21 and this has only intensified as a result of Covid, where we have experienced increased spending pressures alongside falling income.

“Despite this, we remain committed to maintaining the services that our residents and businesses rely on, supporting the most vulnerable people in our communities and leading the economic recovery in the county.

“We will continue investing in the county’s future economic growth and have developed ambitious plans to grow in sustainable energy, delivering a green recovery.

“We’re also in a good position to maximise opportunities offered through our involvement in the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal and North of Tyne Combined Authority to maximise funding and investment for Northumberland.”

But the Labour group leader, Cllr Susan Dungworth, said: “Yet again the Government is expecting local councils to do more with less. A decade of cuts to local government and the public sector have impacted on our services and ground down our hard-working staff both in the council and partner organisations.

“Successive council leaders have had to grapple with these unreasonable levels of cuts and now, as we see child poverty and unemployment in our county rising, it is hard to see how these cuts can be made without harming some of the most vulnerable people we serve.”

Referring to the Tories’ pledge of ‘levelling up’, she added: “This budget does nothing to honour their promises or redress the balance.

“We are disappointed by the response of the leader of the council. We can only hope that, behind the brave public face he is putting on, he is making representations to his Government to tell them this relentless cutting of budgets simply cannot go on any longer.”

Cllr Dungworth also encouraged everyone to respond to the consultation and ‘join in the conversation about the county’s financial future’, as it’s ‘vital that everyone’s voice is heard’.

The £8.3million savings target for next year is made up of £3.2million from adult wellbeing and health, £1.4million from children’s services, £1.1million from community services, £1million from local services, £950,000 from corporate services, £500,000 from culture, arts and leisure, and £300,000 from across the council through a 25% reduction to travel and subsistence budgets.

It is expected that the level of increase in council tax above which a referendum must be held will remain at 2%, which means that Northumberland ratepayers face 2% hikes in each of the next three years.

The report to the cabinet meeting stated: ‘Unless additional Government funding is provided in the spending review, the financial outlook for the council will continue to be extremely challenging for the foreseeable future.’

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