Member Article

Northumberland Council to begin consultation over £350 million future investment projects

Residents across Northumberland are being invited to share their views on where they feel the county council’s spending priorities should lie over the next two years.

The draft proposals include ambitious plans for more than £350 million of capital investment in local projects, including providing more homes, jobs, better education and improved transport infrastructure.

This week the council is launching a public consultation as budget discussions get underway on plans to save £44 million up to 2017, while at the same time investing in the future.

These investments include building new social housing, funding towards a scheme to reopen the Ashington, Blyth and Tyne railway line and investments in improved education, including the complete rebuild of three schools.

Of the proposed £44million savings, around £26million over the next two years will come from improved efficiencies including smarter use of IT, better use of the council’s buildings and sale of some properties and a review of library, tourism and tourist information centres to join up services where possible.

The remainder over the next two years will come from income generation (£8.47million), cuts in service (around £2.9million), controlling inflation (around £6.27million) and managing demand on services (around £0.35million).

It’s proposed to increase Council Tax by 1.99% in each of the next two years, an increase of 54 pence a week for a Band D property.

The proposals will be discussed by the council’s policy board on December 9th before councillors receive a further budget report in February 2015, with recommendations then being made to the full County Council for a decision.

Leader of Northumberland County Council, Cllr Grant Davey, said: “Setting a budget in the current financial climate poses a real challenge for councils up and down the country and we know that in the next two financial years we will have to save more than £44 million from our revenue budgets.

“This is on top of the £160 million savings that have been made since 2009 due to government cuts. This level of saving cannot be made from efficiencies alone but we want to protect frontline services while continuing to invest in the future.

“Over many months we’ve been looking very carefully at every area of our business to see how we can reduce expenditure, increase income and make savings while minimising the impact on frontline services, residents and council staff.

“We’ve reviewed all our services to make sure they provide value for money and are operating as efficiently as possible.

“We’ve have had to assess all our spending and carefully considered where we can change, reduce or remove services causing the least possible damage to the people of Northumberland.

“We’ve also reviewed all of our fees and charges while looking at how we can make improvements to the way we manage demand for services.

“At the same time we’ve been looking at ambitious investment in the future of this county across a range of areas. This is part of our long term economic plan which will boost employment, economic opportunities and support frontline services across Northumberland, regardless of geography.

“It’s important to stress no final decisions have been made, at present these are just proposals.

“That’s why we need people’s ideas, feedback and opinions to help us shape these services. It’s vital we get residents’ views before we make difficult decisions about the budget.”

The eight week public consultation, which runs from Wednesday, November 26 and is open to everyone with an interest in Northumberland and the services provided by the council.