Today (Friday February 17), Wokingham Borough Council has released detailed budget proposals for 2012/13.
A focus on children achieving their potential in schools continues with £26million earmarked for investment at schools including £6million for improvements at The Bulmershe School. There are also plans to tackle congestion by constructing a new station link road in Wokingham as well as money to provide extra care housing and significant investment in the regeneration of Wokingham town centre.
The council has protected its services and avoided cuts by investing over £1million per year in its vulnerable and it will be maintaining weekly waste collections by introducing of a new scheme which will also see kerbside recycling extended to weekly as well as an opt-in chargeable garden waste service.
The council is also set to freeze its share of the council tax for the second year running, using a one-off government grant. The proposed budget will be considered by council at its meeting next Thursday (February 23) and is set to agree its share of the overall council tax for 2012/13 at £1,199.24 for Band D.
The borough council will not be cutting services despite suffering a 10.4 per cent reduction, on top of the 14.3 per cent reduction suffered last year,in its main grant from central government, known as the revenue support grant. Services will be targeted at the most vulnerable members of the community.
Council leader Cllr David Lee said: "Everyone has tightened their belts in recent years. Wokingham Borough Council is no different. We have been working hard to set a sound budget – a huge challenge in the current climate as we are required to find savings of around £4.5million for 2012/13. And this is on top of the£6.5million amount we had to save last year – all of this whilst protecting the front-line services that our residents rely on.
"We will also be launching our new vision next week which outlines a set of principles and priorities that will determine and shape our work this year and in the future. This is reflected in our investment decisions for example around education, highways and Wokingham town centre regeneration. Last year we protected front line services by increasing efficiency and restructuring services to deliver savings. This will continue this year to secure our long-term financial sustainability. It’s not about cuts and savings but about better serving our residents and doing so efficiently. It’s these efficiencies that will provide the savings needed to give us financial security."
The 2012/15 budget includes:
- A £39.7million budget for social care for adults, which includes an additional £1.1million for community care services such as preventative services and mental health per year
- Over £28.5million children’s services budget (excluding money that goes directly to schools) per year
- £108million direct to schools in the form of dedicated schools grant (DSG) per year
- Just under £127million on capital schemes including:
- £26million investment in school buildings including improvements at The Bulmershe School
- Over £25million to be spent on maintaining the borough’s roads and other infrastructure
- £19million investment in repairs and maintenance of council housing (this is approximately £4million per year higher than in previous years)
- £37million in town centre regeneration
Cllr Lee added: "We are a lean council and as I have said many times before, we are the lowest funded unitary authority in the country. But we do have a good track record of good financial management and I would like to thank our staff who work hard to ensure we make ourselves as efficient as possible. Some £4.5million savings will be required next year alone, due to reductions in central government funding. By taking action to make savings, we have been able to avoid significant cuts to services or the equivalent of increasing council tax by almost six per cent."
Full details of the proposals are included in the agenda papers for the council meeting on February 23 and can be found at: www.wokingham.gov.uk
