Redbridge councillors have approved a budget with “no cuts” for next year, despite planning to make £19.5 million of “savings” over the next five years.
The revenue, council tax and housing budgets were approved last night following a two-and-a-half hour debate about Labour’s track record of spending ahead of May’s local elections.
To balance its books the council’s communities service plans to “transform the lives” of 700 families by moving them out of temporary housing, saving £7 million by 2027.
It also hopes to save £3 million by targeting young people in care with “focused investment” in therapy that will reunify them with their birth parents or caregiver.
Deputy leader Cllr Kam Rai told last night’s full council meeting: “I’m proud of the budget we put forward today.
“This budget increases services whilst looking after residents. We continue to be the lowest paid borough-per-head in London and yet we have not cut a service, there is not a cut in this budget.”
A list of last year’s planned “savings” from the people directorate shows only half a million pounds of the planned £2.3 million reduction is close to being achieved.
That includes various strategies such as restorative justice, reducing how many children are taken into care and restricting guardianship order payments.
Council leader Cllr Jas Athwal added: “Despite crippling Tory cuts my administration has delivered a record administration, Instead of seeing degradations we’re seeing investment in our streets.”
“We’re announcing a new budget that reflects our ambitions, this is an investment of hope for the future.”
Cllr Rai said council tax, which will rise by a total of 4.17%, including the adult social care precept and the Greater London Authority’s share, will be the same in “every London borough”.
Other increases for residents include council housing rents, which will go up by 4.1% in April, along with heating and service charge rates increasing by an average of 6.8%.
Cllr Athwal listed achievements Labour has delivered while in power, including £1milliion spent on leisure centres, enlarging Fairlop Waters Country Park and a new outdoor lido in Valentines Park.
He also highlighted investment in new council enforcement officers, who will now patrol at night, and £1.5million on a new CCTV system that will form a “ring of steel” around the borough.
Conservative leader Cllr Linda Huggett said: “You can’t keep going back and blaming the Conservatives, you have to take responsibility yourselves and you have not been doing that.
“Look at the capital budget, since you’ve been in control the policy has been to spend, spend and spend.
“Despite this you’ve still failed to deliver or complete most grandstanding capital projects given in election pledges many years ago.”
Cllr Huggett added that the council’s housebuilder, Redbridge Living, had collapsed last year and predicted borrowing will almost reach an “eye-watering” billion pounds in five years.
In his statement of robustness, operational finance director Ian Ambrose signed off on the council’s budget as “prudent” but warned of “significant risks” around the delivery of savings.
The budget report shows Redbridge’s reserves are forecast to drop £17 million by March 2023, which Ambrose warned is “unsustainable” and should only be a one-off.
He added: “There is a significant risk of financial instability if considerable levels of reserves are used to fund ongoing spending or reductions in council tax.”
Ambrose outlined 13 different risks that threaten the council’s budget in the coming year, including the ongoing pandemic, delays in achieving savings, uncertain government funding in the future, temporary accommodation, social care and delivering building projects on time.
https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/19961162.redbridge-council-raises-council-tax-4-17/
