Last Friday was the Full Council meeting at West Sussex County Council that determined the budget for the year ahead. It is well-known that ‘upper tier’ authorities in areas of two-tier local authorities such as West Sussex, have much greater financial challenges than ‘lower tier’ authorities such as Crawley Borough Council, that gains significant income from its huge level of reserves that it has from the sale of council houses.
This is especially so in West Sussex, because we have a rapidly growing older population who need greater levels of adult social care, as well as more children needing care. We have also seen a large increase of children with special educational needs.
These financial pressures require innovation which is why the County Council has developed a long-term plan to invest across the county and deliver projects that will generate income. Proposals were agreed to invest almost £200m in road schemes over the next five years, as well as £45.2m to produce renewable energy and generate income through solar farms and battery energy storage schemes.
This £712m five-year ‘capital programme’ also includes an investment of £47.5m for the Fire and Rescue Service, with a proposed new state-of-the-art fire training centre, planned improvements to existing fire stations, as well as new high-tech equipment and vehicles.
Other items in the capital programme for 2020-2025 include £57.4m for ‘Growth Programmes’ of which £21.4 million is for here in Crawley, working with partners such as Crawley Borough Council to improve infrastructure, create new jobs, and provide new homes.
As well as a very ambitious capital programme, the revenue budget for the day-to-day running of services includes major increased funding for Children and Young people of £32m. There is also extra funding of £2.6m for improvements for our Fire and Rescue Service plus an additional £1m for highway maintenance.
It’s disappointing that these major investments in our services and infrastructure were not supported by Labour County Councillors at the budget meeting, but this did not surprise me as my observations over many years tell me that they always focus on the negative.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
19th February 2020