Nottingham City Council have launched a public consultation on proposals put forward to close a ?50m funding gap for 2024/25.
Like many local authorities across the country, the council is facing major pressures on its budget due to the cost of increased demand for children?s and adults? social care and rising homelessness.
Since 2013/14, the council?s Revenue Support Grant (RSG) from Government has reduced by ?97 million every year. Over the same period, Nottingham?s ?Core Spending Power?, a measure used by Government which also includes income from Council Tax, business rates and other grants, has reduced by 28.2% in real terms compared to 19.4% for all councils in England, according to SIGOMA, the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities.
Past issues relating to financial governance which led to the appointment of an Improvement and Assurance Board have reduced the council?s financial resilience and ability to draw on reserves.?
Councillors on the authority?s Executive Board met earlier this month to discuss the proposals for making the savings needed to balance the budget next year, which is a legal requirement for all councils.
The proposals for consultation involve managing demand, increasing charges, reducing costs, reducing services to a statutory minimum and in some cases ceasing services and funding altogether.
They can be viewed in full in the appendices to the report to the executive Board?and include a review of the Library Service provision.?
A four-week public consultation now takes place until 16 January which includes an online survey and a series of engagement events.
If you would like to participate in the survey, you can complete the survey online. You can also obtain a hard copy at your nearest library. Simply ask at the reception desk, and a printout will be provided for you.
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