‘Families are struggling’
COUNCIL LEADER WARNS OF CORONAVIRUS IMPACT
CORONAVIRUS has left more people than ever struggling to make ends meet, a Gateshead Council boss has warned.
This comes as a new budget which will see millions of pounds in cuts and a council tax hike moved one step closer after being approved by cabinet.
The local authority will have to save £8.117m in the coming financial year, which could rise to £54.8m over the next five years.
To do this, it has come up with a long list of proposed changes to its frontline and administrative services in a bid to save cash.
A report heard by the authority’s cabinet on Tuesday revealed council tax would be going up by 4.99%, with 3% of that earmarked for adult social care.
This comes to a weekly rise of £1.17 for a Band A property and £1.75 for a property in Band D.
The report said the increase, expected to raise an additional £4.8m, is needed as a result of spiralling costs and savage cuts to funding.
Speaking after the meeting, council leader Martin Gannon said: “It is never an easy decision to increase council tax but this year the Government gave us little choice.
“When they gave us our settlement it was with the assumption that tax by up to 5%, passing the burden on to local people and on to those who are already stretched.
“It is not something we want to do but we are being squeezed more than ever before. We have experienced a decade of austerity alongside spiralling costs of social care for older people and children. This is without factoring in the massive impact the pandemic has had on our finances.”
The council wants to slash £1.2m from its budget for public health and wellbeing and is carrying out a review of these services.
This will see a review of various services including sport and leisure, events, libraries, arts, heritage, allotments, community safety and public health services.
Information from residents will be used when developing further detailed proposals later in the year, which will need further consultation. The council admitted it does not know at this stage if there will be job losses.
Meanwhile, it could also save £300,000 by closing one of its three Promoting Independence Centres. Currently the authority has centres in Birtley, Low Fell, and Felling.
Councillors are being asked to make a decision to close one of the centres, it has not been agreed which one is likely to close.
The council could save £130,000 by scrapping its thrive fund, which provides grants to small community organisations.
The authority hopes to save £200,000 by increasing numbers of “in-house” foster carers and £250,000 by increasing its “shared lives” service where adults in need of care get this provided in their own homes.
Coun Gannon added: “The impact of Covid has exacerbated the inequalities we are experiencing across the borough.
“We see more people than ever struggling to make ends meet. In our budget we will continue to focus the limited resources we have to support the most vulnerable in our communities.
“We know many families are struggling and we recognise the impact his increase will have on our residents and we will make sure those who need it will get extra help.
“Our council tax support scheme is there to help those most likely tobe affected by the increase.”
The budget also outlines areas where the council is set to spend money over the next five years.
It wants to invest £49.7m to support housing within the borough, delivering sustainable homes and creating nearly 600 new jobs.
The authority wants to spend £100.3m to encourage economic recovery and growth including investment in infrastructure and £42.1m to address poverty and inequality including £7.6m to purchase a new intermediate care facility.
It also plans to invest £66m to facilitate sustainable transport and £15.8m to address climate change - including development of a mine water energy centre.