This year, Hampshire County Council will plan their budget for 2024 to 2026. This budget is the amount they have to spend on services for local people in Hampshire.
By law, local authorities are required to have a balanced budget. This means the money that goes out (on services) mustn’t be more than the amount that comes in.
Demand for local services, like social care for vulnerable children and adults, rising costs and underfunding from the Government means that Hampshire County Council are struggling to keep that balance, and are estimated to ‘overspend’ £132m by April 2025.
This means that by 2025/26, to deliver the required balanced budget, the Authority will need to save an anticipated extra £132 million from its budget each year.
The local authority have come up with some proposals that could help to balance the budget, as well as lobbying central government for an increase in the amount they have to spend. Some suggestions are:
Increasing council tax
Making reductions and changes to services
Finding ways to generate income
Proposals like this can cause worry and upset for residents, understandably. However, up until 23rd July 2023 Hampshire residents can have their say on these proposals and about the budget and services in general.
Do you use a service that you depend on? Would an increase in council tax have a huge impact on you during the current cost of living crisis?
It is so important that Hampshire residents tell the local authority what these cuts would mean for them, by completing a survey. You can do this in a number of ways.
Firstly, it is recommended to read the full information pack about the consultation. You can access this here, or if you need an easy read version you can find it here. For a hard copy, call 0300 555 1375 or email insight@hants.gov.uk.
To complete the survey online, click here. To complete the survey in an easy read format, click here. As above, if you need the survey in larger print, another format or another language you can call 0300 555 1375 or email insight@hants.gov.uk. You can also complete a hard copy at any Hampshire Library.
The more people that are able to share their views, the more aware we can make the Local Authority of the impact budget cuts on essential services cause.