Hampshire County Council Budget 2008/09

Questions and answers

What is the County Council's budget in 2008/09?

The County Council's budget in 2008/09 is £642.7 million. Of this, £143 million comes from Government grant, and the rest is made up from council tax. In addition to this budgeted expenditure which the County Council is able to prioritise for spending in line with its strategy and plans there is a further £999 million of spending funded by income, specific and area based grants. The income is retained for reinvestment in the service to which it relates and specific grants are distributed for spending on specific services as directed by the Government. Total gross expenditure for 2008/09 is £1,655 million.

What will be the increase in the County Council's portion of the council tax?

Council tax for County Council services will increase by 4.5 per cent. Overall, council tax in Hampshire is expected to increase by around 4.8 per cent when all local authorities have levied their charges.

What will be the County Council's portion of the council tax for a Band D property?

Those living in a Band D property will pay £999.00 to the County Council in 2008/09, compared with £955.62 in 2007/08.

There is increasing disquiet among some sections of the community, notably pensioners, that they cannot afford to pay an ever-increasing council tax. What is the County Council doing to help them?

We're very much aware that those on low and fixed incomes - not just pensioners - are finding it very difficult to pay their council tax bills. We would urge those having difficulty paying their council tax to contact the County Council's Information Centres on 0800 028 0888 to see if they can claim financial assistance - many of those eligible are not doing so. Alternatively the Pension Credit Local Service in Hampshire can help people claim their benefits by making a home visit, and in the privacy of your own home take details to ensure you claim what’s yours. To make a claim through the home visits service call 01329 243778 and leave your contact details. The Pensions Credit Local Service will then get back in touch with you to arrange a visit.

We will also continue to press Government to fund the County Council properly and recognise Hampshire’s public service needs in making decisions on grant distribution.

Is the County Council looking at its own services and making efficiency savings?

Yes. The County Council has achieved savings of more than £15 million in 2007/08 and plans to achieve further efficiency improvements of £15 million in 2008/09. We take very seriously the need to use our budget prudently. We have to perform a balancing act, though, because consultation with residents has consistently told us that people don't want us to cut council tax at the expense of services - this exactly mirrors our thinking.

Couldn't the County Council make further savings by employing fewer people?

The County Council employs more than 30,000 staff, both full-time and part-time. The vast majority of these provide frontline services, such as teachers and social workers, directly delivering a range of important services to the community.

The County Council’s performance was assessed in February 2008 by the Audit Commission and a top ‘four star’ rating was achieved for the sixth year running. We employ first class staff in order to continue to provide the first class services that Hampshire residents expect.

What sort of council tax increase can we expect in future years?

For the first time, the Government has agreed its funding levels for individual authorities for a three year period. It has given us a 2% increase for 2008/09, well below the current rate of inflation. The increase in the following two years will be even lower: 1.75% and 1.5%. This is the smallest percentage increase for any county council in England. We receive only a third of the funding per head of the best-funded county council in England.

Council tax increases and service budgets are still provisional at the moment, but the best estimate for future council tax increases is around 3.5% for 2009/10 and 3.5% for 2010/11.

Why does the County Council's council tax consistently go up by more than the rate of inflation?

There are a number of reasons for this. Pay inflation tends generally to be higher than retail price inflation. Other Government imposed cost increases have to be met, for example the increase in employers' national insurance contributions in 2003 and annual increases in landfill tax.

Price inflation in the private sector for residential care and some other contracted services (such as repairs and maintenance of buildings) has also been much higher than the retail price index (RPI). Higher standards on waste disposal and increased volumes are another pressure.

There are also increased numbers of children in care, often requiring very costly individual placements, and increased numbers of frail elderly requiring care at home, and in residential nursing care to free up hospital beds.

In 2008/09 the County Council received a below inflation grant increase of 2.0%. This was the lowest possible increase given to councils in 2008/09.  In the light of this and growing spending pressures it has not been possible to peg the council tax increase to inflation.

Has the County Council consulted with the public over this rise, and what did they say?

We held a budget consultation workshop in November 2006 with residents and gave all Hampshire residents the opportunity to have their say online. Most people did not support the council tax option requiring service cuts and were willing to accept a higher increase in order to protect ‘life or death’ services such as social care.

We are also carrying out a consultation on the medium term financial strategy for the next three years with members of the citizens panel.

If you have any questions about the content of these pages please contact the County Treasurer's Department.