Today [6 February], Conservative-run East Sussex County Council presented a balanced budget for the forthcoming financial year, promising to deliver £538 million to support quality services across the county.
East Sussex Council Leader, Conservative Cllr Keith Glazier (pictured) said: “We can deliver this balanced budget, which makes no cuts to services, as a direct consequence of the prudent and innovative approach, and at times tough decisions, that we have taken over the last decade.
“Our position is in stark contrast to the severe cuts to services being seen in many opposition-run local authorities across and around the county; a direct consequence of their failure to display financial discipline in the past, willingness to run up debts, pursuit of vanity projects and ideologically driven policies, indulgence in unwise property speculation, and failure to address inefficient service delivery.”
East Sussex County Council carries just £396 of debt per head of population, while the legacy of Green Party-rule in Brighton & Hove has left the incoming Labour administration with a “black hole” in its finances, and debts of £1,370 per head of population.
Even worse, Lib Dem-run Eastbourne carries a staggering £1,781 of debt per person, having already sought financial support from central Government, remains unable to balance the books and is looking for another bail-out. Coalition-run Rother are also struggling to balance their books as are Green/Labour-run Hastings. All these opposition-run authorities are being forced to cut services.
Lead member for Highways, Cllr Claire Dowling, said: “In the current financial year (2023/24), recognising the local and nationwide challenges in highways, and following a Cabinet review, we directed an extra £15.7 million in funding into the highways budget.
“Total budgeted spending on highways structural maintenance was double that in 2020/21. Change will be incremental and take time, but going forward we will seek to do more in support of our 2023 Visibly Better Roads strategy.”
Commenting on the East Sussex budget for FY 2024/25, Cllr Nick Bennett, Lead member for Finance, offered support, adding that in the new financial year, as a part of the ongoing budget process, the administration will again explore delivering further additional funding in support of highways spending, with a report to Cabinet.
East Sussex’s strong approach to service delivery was recognised in 2023 by the Local Government Association corporate peer challenge which concluded that: ‘East Sussex does what it says it will do and does it well'.
A Grant Thornton 2023 external audit report, which assessed the arrangements the Council has in place to secure economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the use of its resources, judged the county council to be sound, finding no significant weaknesses in its arrangements.
This month, the help, protection and care children and young people are receiving from East Sussex County Council earned the authority an overall ‘good’ rating from Ofsted, while inspectors found the experiences and progress of children in East Sussex care to be ‘outstanding’. The approach to children’s safeguarding in the county was also praised in an independent review by East Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership.
“Under all the key metrics, East Sussex is a well-run and financially disciplined authority, offering highly rated statutory services as well as delivering much needed transport, economic development and levelling up funds to the county,” added Cllr Glazier.
