Rutland County Council will lose over 10% of government funding this year, leaving the authority with £1.5m less to spend on local services. 

The authority must set a new balanced budget for the year, incorporating this huge loss of funding. The amount the council spends on running local services must not exceed the total it receives from its four main sources of income – grant funding from the government, fees and charges, council tax and business rates. 

In their new Local Government Finance Policy, the government has said it will prioritise funding to areas with high deprivation, as well as scrapping a grant that previously gave RCC more than £1 million per year towards the cost of running rural services. 

Together, these changes mean the authority has lost 14% of its grant funding with very little warning, putting it under immense pressure as it prepares the annual budget. 

An initial draft of the Council's latest budget will be presented to the cabinet on Tuesday 14th January, ahead of a public consultation. 

Councillor Andrew Johnson, Cabinet Member for Resources and Governance at Rutland County Council, said: "This Council has a history of sound financial management, even with the health of our national economy, rising inflation and growing demand for the care services we provide. Unfortunately, this year our task has been made even harder by changes to national policy, which are incredibly harsh on rural areas like Rutland. 

The draft budget for 2025/6 includes a variety of measures to help the council increase its income and recover costs. This includes saving £80k by changing how the council secures beds when arranging care packages for older people. There is also a £363k saving from changes to waste management and the selling of recyclable materials. 

The budget has also set aside £1.3 million for a Council Tax Reduction Scheme to provide additional support for those on a low income. 

The agenda and reports for Rutland County Council's Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 14 January can be read in full by visiting: www.rutland.gov.uk/meetings. The meeting will be held in the main Council Chamber and will be streamed live online from 10.00am.