Rutland County Council is intending to increase its council tax by the maximum allowed.

The council will unveil its draft budget for 2023/24 at the meeting of the cabinet today, Thursday 12 January 2023.

If approved, Council Tax will be raised by 4.99% – the maximum allowed by statute – which represents a 2.99% increase in Council Tax, plus a 2% increase in the adult social care levy.

In real terms, a band D property will pay £2,013.04 or £38.71 pence per week in 2023/24 – up from £36.77 per week in 2022/23, for Rutland County Council's share of the bill.

Portfolio holder for finance, governance and performance, change and transformation, Conservative Cllr Karen Payne, said: "We agreed a financial sustainability plan for the next four years last October, and we want to be proactive and look at the long-term future of the council.

"That plan allows the council to make a conscious decision to use part of its reserves as an economic strategy, to help with the current financial climate.

"The proposed budget would therefore take £500,000 from reserves for 2023/24 to balance the budget this coming financial year, and £1.4 million from reserves for 2024/25 to balance the budget in that year.

"The overall plan then delivers us back to a balanced budget, not using any reserves, in financial year 2027/28.

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"The budget we're setting this year is net £42.3 million, and that is predicated on our raising our council tax by 4.99%; but we believe that this will make us leaner and fitter so that we can weather these financial storms, and we intend to deliver extra savings of £4 million by 2027/28.

"One of the biggest issues the council is facing is the costs of delivering adult care cervices in Rutland, as we have an increasing ageing population; so, for example, a bed in 2022 cost £535 per week, whereas that same bed in 2023 now costs £800-900 per week.

"The 2% additional levy that we're charging will not actually cover the increase in costs the council are going to incur, and the shortfall is going to be in the region of £750,000 in 2023/24. These are increases that have been incurred by the adult health care providers, who are now passing those on to the council, which leaves us in a very challenging situation, as you can see.

"We have, as our residents would expect us to do, challenged those increases; but they are still lower than a self-funder would have to pay per week for a bed in Rutland, and while the government are going to give us more money, the simple reality is that it won't fill the gap.

"That said, we do look after our most vulnerable people in Rutland, and we do have money for those in need; we do urge them to come forward if they need money to help with the cost of living crisis.

"We believe that the plan we have put forward for the next four years is the only way to keep Rutland viable, and to preserve its identity. We can't allow ourselves to have any government intervention or be swallowed up by another council."

Council leader and Conservative Cllr, Lucy Stephenson, added: "This is an incredibly difficult budget to set as there are so many uncertainties, global finances are challenging everybody right now.

"We put our financial sustainability plan in place for that very reason, so that Rutland council is financially sustainable going forward, responsible and looking to the future – so, yes, we are using some reserves to balance the budget, but it is not just a knee-jerk reaction to the current crisis, it is part of a considered, longer term plan towards sustainability, so that we end up with a council that's fit for purpose.

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"I do think that we are a fiscally responsible council, and that we are keeping an eye on the future. I also know there are a lot of council's around us who are not in as healthy a position as we are, having had government intervention or section 114 orders placed on them which restrict financial control. Some are facing bankruptcy, and we are determined that will not happen to Rutland County Council."

The council is required by law to set a balanced budget and agree the level of council tax.

The final budget will be approved at a special budget meeting of the full council on Monday 27 February 2023.

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