Response to Surrey Heath Council's 2008 Budget Proposals

Speech by David Whitcroft on Wed 20th Feb 2008

These budget proposals present a very grim picture indeed. The net cost of services at £14.488m has seemingly been arbitrarily reduced to that figure by £350k (para 3 refers) of savings which are apparently yet to be identified.

At last year's budget meeting we were told the Executive has set a two year target for 2007/8 and 2008/9 'to achieve a balanced budget with service expenditure of £12.098' and yet the 2008/9 proposal before us tonight is for a figure some £2m more than that. We were also told at the same meeting last year that a further £455k of savings were still to be made on the two year period but the papers before us tonight are silent on that matter.

Instead we are told that the latest GWFB estimate at 31.3.08 is £1.6m which is some £467k down on the estimate made this time last year and where that money has gone is one of a number of key questions we have laid down this evening.

But that is not the end of the GFWB story because in order to support the 08/09 budget a further £259k is to be taken from it to support service provision - something we were told a few years ago was totally unacceptable and amounted to selling the silver etc,etc.

These budget proposals will leave the GFWB just £159k above the minimum level suggested by the paper which accepts itself that going forward there is a danger of a £400k overspend to budget assumption on Refuse & Recycling costs alone. There have also got to be huge question marks over whether the budgeted income from car parks and the leisure centre will be met.

As stated, we have tabled a number of important questions about the budget paper for the Portfolio Holder to address this evening. For the first time in my 17 years on the Council Officers have not undertaken any detailed Financial Seminars during this budget round which makes putting up alternative proposals very difficult. But as the clear majority group within the Council - as we are rightly constantly reminded at Executive meetings - it is clearly the role of the Conservative administration to come up with sustainable budget proposals which are acceptable to the majority of Council members.

Unless we receive some very good answers to the questions we have put down this evening it will be my groups view that the budget proposals put down this evening are not sufficiently detailed and robust to command our support in respect of the recommendations at 34 (ii), iv and vi.