THANET DISTRICT COUNCIL BUDGET 2011/12

Thanet District Council’s budget for 2011/12 has been approved, with a freeze on Council Tax and savings of more than £1.6 million agreed.

The budget was approved last night (Thursday 24 February) at a full Council meeting, with members told that the authority’s grant from central government will reduce by 5.3% in the next financial year. Despite this, the council is also facing increases in its spending and reductions in its income.

As a result, the council needs to find savings of £1,640,300 during 2011/12, made up from:

£1,000,000 from a new staffing structure, agreed in January 2011.

£ 400,000 from entering into sharing services with Canterbury City and Dover District Councils.
£ 313,800 from savings suggestions put forward by staff as part of the new Star Chamber process, which looked at ways to reduce expenditure on services which were not a priority or achieve additional efficiencies.

£ 113,300 from staffing restructures, which have already been put in place.
These proposed savings will meet the council's £1.64 million saving target for 2011/12, with some of the savings coming into effect in time for 2012/13.

The council will also be freezing its part of the Council Tax for 2011/12 as part of the budget.

Leader of the Council, Cllr. Bob Bayford, said: “We realised at a very early stage the extent of the savings that we would need to make for the year ahead. Since then, we’ve been working hard with our finance team to identify reductions in our budget that will have a minimal effect on front line services. Having to save more than £1.6 million is a tall order, but we’ve achieved it by some radical and creative thinking. This is a budget that offers exceptional value for money to council taxpayers in Thanet.

“It’s required some innovative work on our part. Entering into shared services with Dover and Canterbury and the proposals for managing our housing stock through an arms length management organisation with other councils in East Kent are examples of that. This work is being looked at by other councils, as we progress with it. We’ve also undertaken a radical shake-up of our management team and staffing structure to ensure that we deliver the savings we need and provide a council that’s fit to deliver the challenges of the future.”

He added: “Budget managers across the council have stepped up to the mark, coming up with innovative ideas of how the council can save money. It’s the first time we’d tried the Star Chamber approach and it’s really worked. Developing this budget has been a difficult process over many months and it would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our finance team, under the guidance of Sue McGonigal, our Chief Executive Designate.”