Crawley Council made an accurate prediction for the likely reduction in government grant over the four-year period of the CSR (Comprehensive Spending Review). We reckoned that the annual decrease would be seven percent and so it has proved to be. I fully understand the need to rein in public spending and the Council had laid its plans accordingly.
The surprise has been the front-loading of the savings requirement into the first year of the CSR and the uneven spread of savings across the local government sector. This means that we are currently projecting a savings requirement of around 11 percent for the 2011/12 financial year. The change and the challenge are certainly significant although the total amount of money involved over the four years is about the same as we had planned for.
All of this means a requirement to save £2.5 million in 2011/12 instead of the previous target of £1.1 million. We have a number of options available to assist in bridging the gap but ultimately it might be necessary to have one year where we are not setting a balanced budget. A balanced budget was first set in 2009/10 and repeated in 2010/11. This means that our projected income matched our projected expenditure without a direct draw on revenue reserves.
A balanced budget is a desirable outcome because it means that the Council relies less on interest on reserves (savings) to support its day-to-day services toCrawley, meaning that more capital can be invested in the town’s future. Having said that, a dose of pragmatism is appropriate in difficult times and a one year balanced budget ‘holiday’ is certainly reasonable and does not deflect us from securing a better future through long-term investment.
A national leader once characterised a brighter future with a vision of ‘sunlit uplands’. Through our prudent financial management at Crawley Council, the Conservative administration can articulate a vision for a more prosperous future. We have already invested in the rediscovery of Manor Royal as one of the largest business districts in the South-East. Plans are also in progress for the regeneration of a range of town centre sites. Our capital programme includes a bid for further improvements to our neighbourhood centres, focused on the parades. We have aspirations and intent to deliver an enhanced leisure and culture offer in partnership with other organisations.
Some of this might sound counter-intuitive but our successful efforts to deliver better and more efficient services since 2006 mean that we can have a capital programme of new investment that other local authorities would envy. The results will not be many years down the road but will be tangible in the nearer term.
Our ‘sunlit uplands’ are visible without a telescope. They are accessible without walking boots. A pair of trainers will do.
Councillor Bob Lanzer, Leader of Crawley Borough Council
10th November 2010