Annual Budget

Budget at a glance

Some of the key things to note in our 2024/25 budget are:

• The total cost of funding local services in Rutland in 2024/25 is £49.1million (up from £46.6million last year).

• The latest Local Government Finance Settlement has awarded Rutland County Council more money than it did in 2023/24. However, this increase is not enough to cover the rising cost of services.

• Service pressures of £5.2m have been included in the budget, arising from demand, market cost pressures and contracts.

• The budget includes a Council Tax increase of 2.99%, together with a 2% precept to help fund adult social care services.

• If approved, the average Council Tax increase for a Band D equivalent property would be £1.93 per week.

• The budget also includes provisions for £1.285m of Council Tax Support to help people on a low income.

• The draft budget for 2024/25 is balanced using £1.3m of the Council’s General Fund reserves.

• Without further planned savings, Rutland’s funding gap is projected to be £2.9m in 2025/26, assuming £1.8m savings are made in the next year and Council Tax is raised by a further 5%.

What we're spending

Our Draft Budget for 2024/25 includes the follow spending plans for key frontline services:

• £17.6million for adult social care services, which include day care, community care, residential care and protection.

• £7.4million to support children’s social care services such as fostering, adoption, residential care, and support for children with disabilities.

• £3.9million to pay for waste services. This includes recycling and disposal of waste, as well as the cost of running Rutland’s recycling centres.

• £2.7million for school transport and school support.

• £2.6million to fund public transport and other services such as maintenance of all roads, car parks, footpaths, bridges, and street lighting in the County, together with the cost of winter gritting, traffic management and road safety.

• £2.4million for public protection and environment, including street cleaning, grounds maintenance, trading standards and licensing services.

What we're saving

We've worked hard over many years to find savings and efficiencies that help close gaps in our budget while minimising the impact on services. Savings which are planned during 2024/25 include:

• £300k through prevention activities where intervention at the right time reduces costs in the future.

• £900k from transforming the way services are delivered. Examples include a new Communities Hub model, redesign of the public bus network and alternative use of key Council sites.

• £500k saved through negotiations with contractors.

• £200k of additional income.

Fairer funding

National government uses something called Core Spending Power to measure the total resources available to councils to fund local services. Core Spending Power for councils in England has increased this year. However, this is based on a government assumption that all councils will raise Council Tax by the maximum 4.99% allowed (2.99% Council Tax and 2% just for Adult Social Care).

Under the current national funding formula, Rutland gets less government funding per household than other councils with our same responsibilities. Because of this, we rely heavily on Council Tax to fund local services – even more so than other councils. We recently wrote to the government to call for fairer funding for all councils.