It was good to see some sunny weather at the end of the summer, especially as the political weather has turned rather gloomy!
Keir Starmer has set the tone with his Rose Garden presentation, where he certainly didn’t promise us a rose garden. He did promise to “Fix the Foundations” that have been left rather rocky by the previous occupants of 10 Downing Street. He went on, “Frankly, things will get worse before they get better.” It’s clear now that nation’s finances are even worse than previously thought.
A previous incumbent of number 10 would have dismissed this gloomster and promised that boosterism would lead us all to the sunlit uplands. That didn’t work out too well though, just like his oven-ready social care plan.
Nationally, the 317 English councils face a funding gap of more than £6 billion over the next two years. Councils are being pushed to the brink with rising costs for adult social care, children’s placements and temporary accommodation. The current system of funding local government is out of date, complex and limits the ability of councils to be more self-sufficient by raising income from other sources.
Councils are collectively working together to lobby central government to put local government on a more financially sustainable footing straight away and longer term action that can be taken to improve the local government finance situation.
At a local level, many councils are feeling the financial pinch and Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) is no different. Financial pressures are the highest I’ve ever known. With significant cuts in funding from the previous Tory Government we continue to face tough decisions. However, these decisions are being made to ensure the future economic growth of Ipswich, and to safeguard our services that you value.
The main reasons for financial stress are due to reduced council funding from the previous Tory government, the long-term impacts of COVID, economic shocks such as the Ukraine conflict and the Liz Truss mini-budget, increased regulation without increased funding e.g. fire safety following Grenfell, and the rising costs associated with the high inflation in the last few years.
You will be hearing a lot about difficult decisions from politicians at the moment. Our priority remains to protect valued services wherever possible. IBC has a strong track record of efficiency, having already achieved millions in savings since 2012 with little impact on services.
However, the scale of the financial challenge facing the Council is large. A savings requirement of £17.5m was identified in the four year Medium-Term Financial Plan agreed by Council in February. This means that a package of proposals to significantly reduce the budget gap is now required.
Despite this, we will still be able to protect the council services that I know people in Ipswich love and value: council housing, our wonderful parks, the Regent theatre and Corn Exchange, sports facilities and Ipswich Music Day.
Work on the £10 million rejuvenation of Broomhill Pool will start soon and the multi-million redevelopment of Ipswich Museum is well underway. The IBC budget will fund a third of both these projects, with the rest of the funding provided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
IBC launched its new Corporate Strategy in 2023 with five priorities: a thriving town centre, meeting the housing needs of our community, becoming carbon neutral council, promoting community well-being and fairness in Ipswich and being a financially sustainable council providing good quality services. Work continues on all these priorities though there is a big focus on financially sustainability at present.
I am quietly confident that we can address the financial challenge and continue making Ipswich a better place.