Norfolk County Council is facing a funding gap of £17.5m next year – more than four times higher than originally expected.
The council had planned for a £3.8m shortfall when its budget was set in February but further Government cutbacks and rising demand for its services has seen that gap widen dramatically. Recent reductions include a £2.7m cut to its education services grant for 2015.
A report to the council’s policy and resources committee, due to meet this Friday, says the town hall might have to raise council tax for the first time in five years. It also asks councillors to look for further cost cutting through better procurement and more efficient ways of working and to search for new sources of income generation.
‘We are continually given more duties and functions to perform, with less and less money to do so,’ said council leader Cllr George Nobbs.
‘We are having to find more potential savings than we would have liked because of these continuing pressures. The £17.5m potential shortfall next year represents our best estimate of what we need to find and still give ourselves some headroom for making choices.
‘We fully respect the fact that some members of the council fought the last election on a “no council tax increase” platform, but in view of the extraordinary pressure the Government puts on councils, I think the time has come when we should at least consider a hypothecated tax increase. By that I mean a tax increase designed to meet a particular service demand, or to be spent on a particular aspect of a service.
‘Obviously children’s services comes to mind, but people will have their own priorities, and I have an open mind at this time. I believe the public may now be more willing to consider this than we give them credit for.’
