Investment into services for the County's most vulnerable form part of the County Council's financial approach as it agreed its Medium Term Financial Strategy.
Warwickshire County Council has confirmed investment into services for the county’s most vulnerable adults and children as it agreed its financial approach to support the delivery of the Council’s priorities over the next five years.
At the meeting of County Council yesterday (8 February) Councillors agreed the Council’s 22/23 budget together with its 2022 – 27 Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).
Supporting the delivery of the new Council Plan, which was also approved by Councillors at the same meeting, the MTFS will ensure the County Council’s finances are robust and sustainable whilst being ambitious in its plans to make Warwickshire the best it can be.
Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Property, Councillor Peter Butlin said: “We have set a robust, ambitious and sustainable financial strategy to guide us through the next five years.
“It will enable us to tackle the major financial and demand challenges; provide us with sufficient capacity to invest to be more efficient and effective, as well as flexibility to be able to respond to a changing economic and political environment.”
Areas for investment
The Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy sets out a number of areas for investment, including:
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£10.1 million in our children’s social care services
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£14.4 million to protect our elderly and vulnerable adults to fund additional whilst continuing to make progress on our vision of greater integration between health and social care
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£1.9 million to continue to support children and young people with disabilities placements and to ensure they can access appropriate support within their communities
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£2.8 million to increase capacity in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) assessment and review service and to invest in the next phase of our SEND and Inclusion Change Programme
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£2.8 million in home to school transport to ensure we continue to provide services in line with our policy whilst being able to respond to the increasing demands on the service
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£1.8 million, as part of a £5 million programme over the next three years, in digital technology and automation to drive future cost reductions
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£1.5 million over two years in the Fire and Rescue Service to review current strategies and processes for prevention activity
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£1.3 million in the Waste Management service to meet the increased demand as a result of housing growth and the increased domestic waste
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£0.7 million to provide targeted support for young people to improve mental health and wellbeing and provide activities that are a distraction from crime/county lines.
Additionally, in line with a Liberal Democrat proposal, additional funding of £2,000 was agreed for the County Councillor grants scheme to support the Council’s Community Powered Warwickshire approach.
Council Tax
A 3.75% Council Tax increase was agreed, 2% of this increase is ringfenced to fund rising costs and demand for adult social care, with a 1.75% increase to for all other services. This is equivalent to an increase of £1.10p per week for a Band D dwelling.
Councillor Butlin continues: “We all use the services the County Council provides, and as an organisation we must deliver value for money for the taxpayers of Warwickshire. The increase we have made is below the maximum 5% increase we could make and more than half of it will be used to meet the rising demand for and costs of adult social care.”
Budget Reductions
To enable the Council to fund demand in its main service areas it was also agreed to deliver £10.2 million of budget reductions in 2022/23, increasing to £65.7 million by 2027, through better procurement, improvements in efficiency, increased income and delivering reductions in demand. This is part of the continued focus on ways to be more efficient and effective in maximising outcomes from local and national taxpayers’ money and the cost-effective delivery of services