Cornwall Council agrees £59m savings proposals

2 hours ago

Seb NobleCornwall political reporter, Truro

News image — Leigh Frost expressed disappointment at the outcome of a review of council funding

BBC Leigh Frost wears a Cornish tartan tie, white shirt, and dak grey jacket. He has dark black hair. He stands outside the entrance to Lys Kernow with some stone steps behind him leading to the car park. — Leigh Frost expressed disappointment at the outcome of a review of council funding

Cornwall Council has voted to approve proposals to fill a £59m hole its in budget for the coming financial year.

The plans include a 4.99% hike in council tax, as well as efficiency savings and other cost-cutting measures.

The authority insisted it had no choice but to increase people's bills - and partly blamed its financial position on receiving less money from the government than it was expecting.

The Labour group on the council defended the government's support. The BBC has contacted the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) for comment.

The authority said it had been left with £14m less than it expected following a review of the formula used to allocate funding to councils.

Councillor Leigh Frost, the Liberal Democrat leader of the council, explained: "The fairer funding review in June sounded really positive for Cornwall because they had things like recognition of remoteness, of coastal rural areas.

"Unfortunately, as time went on, government has rowed back on those commitments which has meant that we've had to make really difficult decisions within this budget."

'It's been a struggle'

The council said it would be protecting, and investing in, frontline services including £43m on adult social care and £37m towards children's services.

Other measures in the budget include proposals to raise more money from car parks and a further £1.5m to be saved by ending the council's subsidy of flights between Newquay Airport and London.

Independent councillor Adam Paynter, portfolio holder for resources, said: "We think we've done the best we can in the situation that we've got, but it clearly has been a struggle."

He defended the hike in council tax bills: "The increase has been 2.99% for general services, which is below inflation, but there is an extra 2% for adult social care because the costs and the needs are going up."

Laurie wears a dark blue suit with red tie and white shirt and stands outside the entrance to Lys Kernow with trees and bushes in the background. — Laurie Magowan defended the government's support for Cornwall

Councillor Lawrie Magowan, deputy leader of the Labour group, conceded the funding formula review had not benefited Cornwall but defended the government's overall record.

"There has been a lot of significant investment in Cornwall through other means through the Kernow Industrial Growth Fund, funding directly to Cornish Lithium, and mining and marine sectors as well," he observed.

Councillor Paul Ashton, leader of the Reform UK group whose members voted against the budget, said: "We wanted to see more movement on trying to remove or reduce capital debt which the council has.

"By reducing the debt and the daily interest it'll be far better for the overall budget," he argued.

Councillor Connor Donnithorne, leader of the Conservatives, said: "We couldn't support a budget that hikes council tax by the maximum amount but then also looks at hiking fees including potentially up to £3m from car parks."

The budget was approved by council members on Tuesday with 43 votes in favour, 22 against, and 18 abstentions.