Budget for 2012/13 provides a little bit extra where it is needed most

Hampshire County Council has set its budget for 2012/13 and frozen council tax.

The County Council has frozen council tax for 2012/13, which means it will have been at the same level for three years. Band D council tax will be £1,037.88, one of the lowest in the country, which means Hampshire continues to provide services at a lower cost per head than other county councils

The Council’s revenue budget for providing all its services excluding schools (which are funded via a direct grant from Government) is £663million.  

As part of the budget extra provision has been made for the elderly, the young, the disabled and disadvantaged.  This is despite having to make cost reductions of £45 million dictated by cuts in government grant.

• £300,000 to extend apprenticeships at the County Council for school or college leavers, including an employment scheme for people with learning disabilities
• £500,000 to make permanent the Council’s acclaimed internships scheme for care leavers
• £900,000 for speech and language therapy for children with disabilities, initially directed to Gosport, Rushmoor, Havant and Basingstoke
• £100,000 to recruit the specialist advisors on child care as recommended by Ofsted
• £100,000 to give transitional help to local voluntary sector youth organisations who narrowly failed to win grants for the coming financial year
• £300,000  to help ‘troubled families’ turn their lives around
• £1 million for adult care to address what Cllr Thornber described as the ‘ unforeseen consequence’ of the Council’s new policy on the contribution people make to fund their care.  Detailed work will be carried out to establish how to address these issues in a fair and equitable manner to all parties concerned.

The next three years will also see an unprecedented level of one-off resource invested into capital expenditure, including £30 million for school places and £45 million for Extra Care housing for elderly people.

Ongoing cuts in public sector spending led to Hampshire losing 14.3 per cent of its Government grant last year and 10.4 per cent in 2012/13. Further cuts are yet to be confirmed for the next two years.  To meet these reductions and other budget pressures, the County Council is in the middle of an ambitious £100m cost reduction and modernisation programme.  This has focussed on cutting running costs, restructuring and modernising services and seeking opportunities to share services.