Rutland County Council has set a draft budget totalling £81 million for 2024/25.

Published at the start of every year, the draft budget explains how much money is needed to run local services and where that funding will come from.

For the forthcoming financial year 2024/25, the council will require £49.1 million to fund everything from road maintenance to recycling, library services to bus travel, school transport, fostering and adoption.

This money is raised primarily from council taxes.

In addition, the council will receive a further £32 million from the government, but this must be spent on specific areas such as school grants and housing benefit.

Together, this gives a total budget of £81.1 million.

Council leader, Coun Gale Waller (Lib Dem) said: "The financial pressure on local councils has never been greater. We have more responsibilities than ever before, while growing numbers of people need our help – particularly when it comes to social care.

"When you factor in the rising cost of delivering services, caused by soaring energy costs, staffing costs and inflation, it's not hard to see why councils like Birmingham and Nottingham have recently issued Section 114 notices, effectively declaring bankruptcy.

"Councils nation-wide are facing a funding crisis. Under the current national funding formula, we continue to receive less government funding per household than other councils. Because of this, Rutland now relies on Council Tax contributions for 77% of its core funding. Nationally, other authorities rely on Council Tax for around 56% of their core funding.

"We have written to the government with other local authorities to call for a better approach – one that's fairer on the council and Rutland residents. In the meantime, we're working as hard as we can to deliver services on budget and reduce our costs."

Rutland County Council has launched a public consultation which explains its latest draft budget, and asks residents to share their views. The consultation runs until 5.00pm on Friday, February 2, 2024, and can be accessed online by visiting: www.rutland.gov.uk/budget.

It also includes questions on Rutland County Council's refreshed Corporate Strategy, which was discussed by Cabinet on Thursday, January 11, 2024.

Anyone without internet access can request further information and take part in the consultation by calling: 01572 722 577.

Feedback received as part of the consultation will be reported to Cabinet and Council in February, so that Councillors can consider the comments prior to a final budget being approved.

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