An important DCC consultation has been launched which our community may
wish to respond to.
It is the second phase of the Consultation on updated proposals to balance the
Council budget – Durham County Council , of which the first phase was carried
out in the autumn and was seeking to identify areas to be targeted for further
savings and the appetite for council tax increases.
This latest consultation is much the same theme. It follows on from last
week’s DCC Cabinet meeting on 4th December which considered some
amended budget forecasts and proposed additional savings.
Although there may well be some additional funding to DCC from central govt
to be announced on 20 th December, the commentary describes the continued
financial impacts from the increases in Employer NI contributions and the
national living wage and pressures on services including adult social care,
home to school transport, capital financing costs and supporting people in
temporary accommodation.
The proposed total savings for 2025/26 are now £25.6 million, about £3.9
million more than previously forecast. It is notable that the Govt has
announced that councils such as DCC will be permitted to increase their council
tax to 5% (currently 2.99%).
There are presentations about the consultations at AAP meetings this week
and in mid January which you can find at Consultation on updated proposals to
balance the Council budget – Durham County Council which also details the
proposed additional areas in which savings are proposed and includes the link
to the actual online consultation form.
Responses to the consultation can be submitted by Fri 17 Jan 2025 at 5pm. It
will be considered by DCC’s Cabinet on 12 Feb 2025 with a final decision on the
council’s budget by Full Council on 19 Feb 2025.
