Suffolk County Council has approved its financial budget for 2022-23, alongside its first-ever full Net Zero carbon budget.
Both items were passed at the Full Council meeting on Thursday 17 February 2022, providing a focus on children’s services, adult care and the environment.
The council’s budget will rise by 4.5% (from £598.2m to £625.4m), with the additional money generated by a 1.99% increase in council tax, a further 1.00% from the Adult Care Precept, and an increase in grants received from the Government.
The Net Zero carbon budget will allow the council to measure its carbon emissions, and monitor and evaluate the impact of decisions it makes. This will mean it can report each year on its progress, tracking its ambitions towards Net Zero.
Councillor Richard Rout, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Environment at Suffolk County Council, said:
“Today was the first time the council chamber has witnessed a financial budget and a carbon budget being approved. It is important to give our Net Zero Carbon Budget equal weighting to our financial budget – it highlights our commitment to responding to our climate emergency declaration.
“Our financial budget means will not see any reductions in our services, and we’re further investing where it is most needed. Our aim is always to provide the best possible services for everyone in Suffolk and provide value for money.”
The overall increase of 2.99% to council tax, will see a Band D property’s bill rise by 80 pence per week. The council’s Cabinet had the option to increase the adult care element of council tax by a further 1%, but decided against this.
Councillor Rout explained:
“By paying this extra each week, we are all helping the council to provide its key services, and helping support those who need it most.
“We recognise Suffolk residents are seeing increases in the cost of living, whether at the supermarket, on the high street, and of course with energy bills. We did not feel it right to ask everyone for even more from their council tax bill - there is a balance to be had.
“We have been facing huge challenges, particularly the increase in demand on children service’s and adult care. But we are confident that our budget addresses these challenges without the need to ask even more from our residents.”
The Net Zero Carbon Budget will enable the council to more accurately measure its progress to being Net Zero by 2030, and how it can reduce its carbon emissions. Suffolk County Council has a long history of providing dedicated investment to improve the energy efficiency of its buildings and services.
This has led to reductions in carbon emissions in recent years, through projects such as replacing fossil fuel boilers with bio-mass units, installing solar panels and solar hot water systems, rainwater harvesting, updating lighting and improving insulation.
Councillor Rout added:
“Suffolk is well-regarded nationally for its response to climate change, not many other local authorities have committed the same resources to creating in an in-depth carbon budget, as we have.
“But we have much more work to do, it’s incredibly challenging to have an exact figure for every last gram of CO2 that the council emits. Our officers have worked incredibly hard to collate data so far, giving us a baseline against which we can measure our future emissions. We’ll continue to improve how we gather this data so that we can see our progress to Net Zero by 2030.”
Some of the detail of the budget, includes:
- £1.1m increase for the family services budget, specifically to address recommendations made by the recent independent SEND review
- £1m additional funding for Suffolk Highways over the next four years, for example to fund road signs and responsible verge cutting
- £10m to specifically deliver an increasing number of drainage schemes (over the next three years)
- £10m to improve footpath quality and access (over the next three years)
- £12.8m to decarbonise the buildings that SCC owns (by 2030)
- Investments this year to set up future borrowing for bigger schemes, such as SEND and carbon reduction
A net increase in Government Grants of £6.0 million, or £20.7 million once the £14.7 million of one-off COVID-19 Emergency Grant received in 2021-22 is excluded. Of this £20.7 million, £11.7 million relates to additional grant funding for social care
75p of every £1 Suffolk County Council spends goes towards supporting those who need it most through Adult Care, Children’s Services, and Public Health.
The remaining 25p in every £1 is then used to cover the cost of other vital services, including Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, road maintenance, footpaths, waste services, libraries and addressing the challenges surrounding climate change, to name just a few.
