People in West Sussex have had another raw deal from the government in a grant settlement for next year, although it is too early to predict the impact on council tax.
This warning was given by Cllr Louise Goldsmith, the county council's cabinet member for finance and resources, who said the authority was set to get a cash increase of just £1.7m in its grant for services other than schools – a list which included a
dults' and children's services, roads, waste disposal, libraries and trading standards.
"This amount comes at a time when the county council faces a bill of more than £10m to cover inflation, £2m extra to pay energy bills and a £1.4m increase in the government's landfill tax," she added.
The settlement was also criticised by county council leader Cllr Henry Smith.
He said: "It is bad news during an economic downturn when people and businesses will be looking to the county council to do all it can to maintain its frontline services.
"Unfortunately, the term credit crunch is nothing new to West Sussex County Council – we get no credit from the government for delivering efficient services, just a constant crunch placed on the amount of grant to support them."
Cllr Goldsmith said: "This is the seventh year running we have been on the receiving end of the lowest possible grant increase, and it is particularly disappointing at a time when West Sussex is facing severe pressure due to the economic downturn.
"Our percentage increase is the equal lowest among the 27 English counties and less than half the average rise for a county council.
"Dorset, for example, with 7.6 per cent receives over four times our percentage increase of 1.75.
"Figures like this show how deeply flawed the government's formula is for distributing grants towards essential council services.
There was more gloomy news in prospect for 2010-11, with provisional figures showing the county council would get a 1.5 per cent increase for services other than schools.
Cllr Goldsmith said the settlement brought into 'even sharper focus' the county council's continuing review of the way it delivers services.
She said: "It is the only the substantial efficiency savings we have made over the past two years that has meant we have been able to maintain services and put extra money into areas under the greatest pressure.
"So far we have found an extra £30m year on year to put back into services and to help keep council tax increases at an affordable level. We are looking to raise that amount to at least £40m in the coming year."
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The full article contains 512 words and appears in OS-Chichester Observer newspaper.
