Hampshire County Council Budget 2009/10

Questions and answers

What is the County Council's budget in 2009/10?

The County Council's budget in 2009/10 is £657 million. Of this, £145 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 £1,067 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 2009/10 is £1,749 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 1.9 per cent. This is the lowest tax increase in nearly 40 years. Overall, council tax in Hampshire is expected to increase by around 2.4 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 £1,018.17 to the County Council in 2009/10, compared with £999.00 in 2008/09.

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 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. Over the last five years the County Council has achieved efficiency savings of £68 million and plans to achieve further efficiency improvements of £20 million in 2009/10. 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 nearly 40,000 staff, many of which are 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 announced in March 2009 by the Audit Commission and a top ‘four star’ rating was achieved for the seventh 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 gave 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 41% of the funding per head of the best-funded county council in England.

The council tax increase and service budget for 2010/11 is still provisional at the moment, but we are aiming to contain the council tax increase to 1.9% again next year.

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

We consulted with our Citizens Panel last summer on our budget plans for 2009/10 and 2010/11. At that time we were anticipating a council tax increase of 3% in 2009/10. Nonetheless, 54% of respondents supported either spending of £2.5 million or £5 million higher than planned on priority services, which would have increased the forecast council tax increase to 3.5% or 4%.

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