Residents are being urged to have a say on where money can be saved as Lincolnshire faces a “financial black hole”.
In his December message, leader of Lincolnshire County Council Martin Hill has said that even every council in England stopped filling in potholes, turned off every street light, and closed all parks, children’s centres, libraries, museums and leisure centres it would not be enough to plug the hole.
And he warned that councils are facing the deepest cuts in the history of local government – bigger than those in any other part of the public sector, even though every department is having to play its part in rebuilding the nation’s finances.
Mr Hill said: “Given the scale of the problem, councils have to decide what – if anything at all – we can provide beyond what we absolutely have to.
“At this council, having already reduced our budget by £129m over the last four years, we’re faced with at least the same massive cut again.
“However, the savings will be very much harder to find this time, as we’re already running a far more efficient council.
“The challenge – and the impact on services – could hardly be greater.”
Lincolnshire County Council needs to reduce its spending by £40million, with further massive cuts required over the next three years.
Mr Hill said that £40million is more than the county spends on two vital services – Fire and Rescue and the disposal of every single household’s rubbish.
Mr Hill added: “The stark truth is that the budgets for almost everything we do will have to be cut to some extent. Some non-essential services will have to be stopped altogether.
“We may also have to increase council tax much more than we’d like, simply to generate extra income.
“The Chancellor has said that councils responsible for adult social care – including this one – can increase council tax by two per cent on top of any other permitted rise.
“That additional money – estimated to be about £4.5m a year – would have to be spent on care, and would obviously be helpful.
“However, it wouldn’t meet the extra £30m costs that the Government’s national living wage is likely to add to our adult care contracts by 2020.
“Neither would it resolve the demographic problem – the fact that demand for adult care is rising all the time as people live longer and move to Lincolnshire to retire.
“As county councillors, we’re elected to take difficult decisions to balance the books – and we will do that.
“However, it’s important that we should take account of your views before we make those decisions, which is why we’d like as many residents as possible to complete the survey giving us their views.”
The survey can be filled in at www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/budget.
And he warned that councils are facing the deepest cuts in the history of local government – bigger than those in any other part of the public sector, even though every department is having to play its part in rebuilding the nation’s finances.
Mr Hill said: “Given the scale of the problem, councils have to decide what – if anything at all – we can provide beyond what we absolutely have to.
“At this council, having already reduced our budget by £129m over the last four years, we’re faced with at least the same massive cut again.
“However, the savings will be very much harder to find this time, as we’re already running a far more efficient council.
“The challenge – and the impact on services – could hardly be greater.”
Lincolnshire County Council needs to reduce its spending by £40million, with further massive cuts required over the next three years.
Mr Hill said that £40million is more than the county spends on two vital services – Fire and Rescue and the disposal of every single household’s rubbish.
Mr Hill added: “The stark truth is that the budgets for almost everything we do will have to be cut to some extent. Some non-essential services will have to be stopped altogether.
“We may also have to increase council tax much more than we’d like, simply to generate extra income.
“The Chancellor has said that councils responsible for adult social care – including this one – can increase council tax by two per cent on top of any other permitted rise.
“That additional money – estimated to be about £4.5m a year – would have to be spent on care, and would obviously be helpful.
“However, it wouldn’t meet the extra £30m costs that the Government’s national living wage is likely to add to our adult care contracts by 2020.
“Neither would it resolve the demographic problem – the fact that demand for adult care is rising all the time as people live longer and move to Lincolnshire to retire.
“As county councillors, we’re elected to take difficult decisions to balance the books – and we will do that.
“However, it’s important that we should take account of your views before we make those decisions, which is why we’d like as many residents as possible to complete the survey giving us their views.”
The survey can be filled in at www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/budget.
