On Wednesday 26th February, Crawley Borough Council approved its budget for 2014/15. For the fourth successive year, Crawley’s share of the Council Tax was frozen, meaning no increase in bills for residents. This was possible through the prudent financial management of the Conservative administration, now in its eighth year of political control.
Efficiency savings of £1.5 million were identified for 2014/15 and a further £0.5 million were pro-actively identified for 2015/16. This has also meant that the Council has set a balanced budget where its expenditure is matched by its income, so that there is no draw on reserves. All of this has been achieved despite reductions in funding from central government and persistently low interest rates affecting the returns on the Council’s savings deposits. It is impressive that some £8 million of efficiency savings have been achieved since 2006/07.
A balanced budget means that the Council has to keep less money tied up in savings to earn interest to fund day-to-day services. This in turn enables a high level of capital spending on new projects. Indeed, in recent years, Crawley has had one of the largest capital programmes of any district council in the country, reflecting the ambition of the controlling political group for our town.
Examples of capital spending include disabled facilities grants, water management / flood prevention, a new Tilgate Park access road from the A23 and improvements to Memorial Gardens. There will also be £3 million invested in Queen’s Square with half of this money coming from West Sussex County Council. This project reflects our joint commitment to the regeneration of the town centre.
Given all of this substantial achievement, it was a shame that the budget debate was spoilt by the antics of the Labour Opposition. They tabled two amendments without notice and there appeared to be only one piece of paper documenting them, despite there being 37 councillors plus officers. Nobody could take such actions seriously. What was going on? Was the lack of paper their only efficiency saving? Was it an administrative lapse, a stunt or a flashback to student politics? Whatever the explanation, these were not the actions of a political group capable of running anything at all.
The budget is an impressive feat of financial management. Front-line services are protected, the capital programme is increased and Council Tax is frozen. Not many local authorities can make such claims. We are proud that Crawley can.
Councillor Bob Lanzer
Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development
3rd March 2014