Minutes:
A summary of the results of the Council’s 2024-25 Budget Consultation, which ran from 19 December to 16 January, is now available on the Council’s website.
Cllr. Ridley noted to residents that Council meetings are public but YouTube viewing figures show that not many residents watch or attend them. The Council started looking at the budget some time ago being aware that many Council’s are facing budget hardships. The Local Government Association surveyed all Council’s in December and found the 1 in 5 Councils are likely to issue a 114 notice within 2 years. When a Council issues this notice the Council Tax cap is lifted; Council Tax is able to be raised by 10% if this happens, with Woking having raised their Council Tax by 8%. Other non-statutory services provided by the Council such as garden waste collections are stopped.
All of the Council budgets are available online; in 2010 the Council’s Revenue Budget was £10m, in today’s money that is £15m. The budget agreed by the Council is now £7.5m, significantly lower. Grants from Central Government were only announced in December, 3 months before the budget was due to be agreed, so the Council was forced to speculate.
Moving Council Offices saved money for the Council as maintaining Bushloe House was expensive.
10% inflation rates have also affected the Council’s costs around staff wages, fuel for vehicles, and other goods and services.
External Auditor fees have increased by 50% nationally due to increased regulation in auditing.
Council Tax can only be increased by 3% normally. Business rates are also a static charge.
Homelessness related expenses are a statutory duty and the cost of living crisis has increased homelessness; the bill to the Council was higher than expected.
The Borough also has fewer Band D properties and above for Council Tax. The Borough does not have land able to be utilised to create business parks etc. either.
The Council, to balance the budget, has been looking at cutting staff (1 in 10) and increasing charges for services. Garden Waste services and car parking fees will be increasing.
The Council tries to benchmark itself against other local councils in terms of charges for services. The Garden Waste service charge is in line with Harborough, and the season tickets for parking are still the cheapest in the County. Season tickets are not advertised enough and Cllr. Ridley has asked Council Officers to amend this. Car parking tickets are cheaper for residents. Season tickets for the Borough cover specific areas; there are three zones in the Borough that cover leisure centres, Wigston and South Wigston, or Oadby – charges are currently 6 or 12 months but Officers have been asked to look at monthly permits due to how many households are budgeting. There is also one ticket for all car parks in the Borough. Residents of the Borough get a 50% discount on the car parking permits; this currently works out at £1 per week per permit zone. Certain car parks are designated as ‘long stay’ where vehicles can stay over 4 hours; vehicles with permits are still restricted by the maximum duration stay for the individual car parks.
Residents queried as to whether fines issued by parking attendants of the highway comes to the Council or not; these go to the County Council.
The Council will also be moving to fortnightly bin collections from September 2024; this is in line with the rest of the County were bins will alternate between black bins and recycling week on week. Residents questioned as to whether there would be an increase in the amount of waste they are able to put out for each collection. Councillors noted that households that already have additional waste above one bin’s worth they can already apply to the Council for additional capacity and it is expected that this will continue. Residents were also concerned that with fortnightly collections black bags left with bins would attract wildlife. Cllr. Haq noted that the Council will develop criteria for larger households or those with disabilities being able to apply for a larger bin; details around this will be released in due course before September. Garden waste will be unaffected by this. Questions were asked about why the bins would alternate; this is due to two bin types requiring two wagons and two gangs, the cost saving comes from removing one of them.
Residents queried if the Oadby Tip would remain open. Kibworth Tip was expected to close which would have had a knock-on effect on Oadby Tip but this seems to have been saved. It is unclear if Oadby Tip’s opening hours will be shortened as part of the County Council’s budget review.
Residents noted that whilst some are in support of the parking charges it has driven vehicles out on to the highway; Primrose Hill is particularly affected by this. Residents queried as to whether Resident’s Only Parking Permits could be rolled out in the Borough for a nominal fee; returning vehicles to the car parks and increasing the Council’s revenue. The Council approached the County Council regarding a Resident Parking Scheme in the Borough, as per Sandhurst Street, as they are the responsible authority for this and were turned down by the County Council. Councillors noted that they are happy to assist in canvassing residents for support for a scheme and then approach the County Council with this information.
Residents asked for transparency around how much money the budget cuts and service charges have raised for the Council. This information is available online and will be linked in the public minutes of this meeting.
Residents queried as to where new trade is coming in to the area such as niche shops; there is an abundance of charity shops, takeaways, etc. Some of the shop units are too small to attract new businesses. It was noted by some residents that the ‘dying town centre’ phenomenon is a national issue in the wake of people’s changing shopping habits. Oadby has better occupancy of shop units than many other town centres in the country. The Oadby Traders’ drive to provide events in the Borough was noted as a positive for the area.
The Council’s 151 Officer (Chief Financial Officer) has highlighted where the Council can make savings to prevent a 114 notice being issued, and the notice is unlikely if the Medium Term Financial Strategy is followed. The Council has not gone in to its reserves this year as it has previously to balance the budget.
The Council is looking at purchasing two properties to aid in the reduction of homelessness related costs to the Council.
Residents noted the lack of activities for young people in the Borough, and stated that there is a lack of places where young people can attend independently. The Oadby Youth Centre was highlighted to residents. There are a number of different groups for young people in the Borough operated by the voluntary sector. Publicising of youth facilities in the area could be improved by the Council.