“Oil tankers are huge, Kent County Council is huge – so the fact we are starting to turn the ship after only eight months is really quite remarkable.”
Linden Kemkaran And Brian Collins(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
The Reform UK duo behind the largest local council in the country faced down criticism of its draft budget today. Kent County Council (KCC) leader Linden Kemkaran, sitting alongside her deputy Brian Collins, compared the scale of the task in balancing the books to turning a listing tanker around.
She said the council had succeeded in finding millions in savings and fulfilling the “ambition” of setting the council tax at 1% under the government cap of 4.99%. Cllr Kemkaran said: “Oil tankers are huge, Kent County Council is huge – so the fact we are starting to turn the ship after only eight months is really quite remarkable.”
She added frontline services will be protected “and that has never been done before”. The leader acknowledged the lower tax rate may mean a reduction in government funding of around £10m but efficiencies had offset this.
Opposition groups at KCC spent much of last night poring over the 94-page budget document which dropped at 8pm. They went on the attack branding the 3.99% council tax hike as “wholly irresponsible” and claimed Reform UK will have to “smash the piggy bank” reserves to plug emerging funding gaps.
There is also concern service cuts may become inevitable. All pointed to the rising costs of adult social care (ASC) and ongoing pressures caused by special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision.
The budget document makes plain the demands placed on KCC’s annual £1.6 billion revenue income.
More than £787m (48% of the budget) will go on ASC, an increase of 11%, while children’s services is calculated to be £421m (25% of budget), up 7.7%.
Cllr Kemkaran said this morning: “We inherited (from the Conservatives) an adult social care budget that was spiralling wildly out of control.”
One observer, who asked not to be named, said the ASC provider market is “weak and fragmented” and suffering its own set of pressures such as rising running and staff costs. He said: “Adult social care has a habit of throwing up all kinds of nasty cost surprises and that isn’t going away.”
KCC, in common with every other authority in the country, is trying to find ways to reduce the ASC bill in the next few years. Some of the demand on KCC’s finances are off-set by an uplift in government funding of £51m under its fair funding review.
The council has also identified £16m reserves “that are no longer necessary” and £9m in one-off receipts, such as asset disposals. The leadership believes it can keep its general reserves within the permitted limits, although opposition groups have cast doubt on this.
For Kent residents, the budget proposes that Band A properties could be faced with an increase in their bills of £44.95; Band B, an extra £53.43; Band C £59.92 more and Band D a rise of £67.41.
Antony Hook, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition at KCC, said: “Reform stood for election promising to make savings and lower the burden on taxpayers. That promise has been utterly broken. Them boasting about a nearly 4% increase instead of 5%…is a poor outcome given the hype and promises made at the election and for the last nine months.
“By squeezing reserves to cover their own indecision…they are smashing the piggy bank to pay for their own overspending.”
Conservative group leader Cllr Harry Rayner described it as a “wholly irresponsible” budget.
He claimed: “They have failed in their election promises to cut council tax – a 4% increase is not a cut. The budget fails to provide sufficient cash to prevent yet another overspend in both adults and children’s services. By failing to set a responsible budget Reform have left themselves open to a reduction of £10 million in government grant funding.”
He said the soaring costs of providing adult social care will continue to dog the Reform administration.
Green Party group leader Cllr Mark Hood said he was “horrified by the short-termism” of the proposals.
He added: “The fact that we are going to go to reserves in order to fund this is massively distressing and the fact we are not increasing the council tax by the maximum amount allowable is performative, at best.
“It seems they have put political posturing over pragmatism. They are just looking for favourable headlines ahead of the May elections this year.”
Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive of the influential Local Government Information Unit, said: “Over recent years only a handful of councils have succeeded in keeping council tax rises below the maximum permitted. Last year, nearly nine out of ten councils raised it by the maximum.
“But, with many councils under new administrations and a new funding formula from central government, we could see that changing this year. As always councils will be looking to show their residents that they can keep taxes as low as possible while delivering value for money for their communities.”
KCC Labour group leader Alister Brady said: “Reform promised to cut council tax, but instead they’ve raised it by £67.41 per household for a Band D property. They’ve only managed to balance the books thanks to record funding from the Labour government and by planning unrealistic cuts to adult social care. They’ve put all their chips on this risky gamble, and if it fails, Kent residents will be the ones who suffer.”
Deputy KCC leader Cllr Collins (Reform) rejected opposition claims there could be reductions in services. He said: “Cut is not a word we are using. Efficiencies and savings are our forewords…these are the things that are important.”
Cllr Collins added the 3.99% rise in council tax was “not a figure we plucked out of the sky” and that many hours had been spent “looking at what we could do for the residents of Kent”.
Last night, Cllr Kemkaran said the council is on track to deliver £100m in savings and income, reduce debts by £67m and “re-profile” £40m of future spending.
She said: “When this administration took office, the Council was facing a very serious financial situation.
“KCC was saddled with more than £700 million of debt, around £84,000 was being spent every day on interest alone, and pressures on vital services were continuing to grow.”
The proposals will go before full council on February 12 when all members will have the opportunity to challenge it in detail.
But Reform UK, with 48 of the 81 seats at County Hall, will have little trouble in passing it.
