Financing measures could help “core offer” council

East Sussex County Council will next week consider £12.3m of cuts to services as part of a new “core offer” in order to help it manage a projected deficit of up to £46m by 2022.

The council’s cabinet will consider a report, the recommendations of which, would ensure statutory services are delivered as well as investment into the local economy and some preventative work for families with children.

However, it warned that even these savings will not close the budget gap, and said further work will be needed to identify further savings.

The report said: “The core offer is not the ideal that we would wish to be able to provide but seeks to capture what is most appropriate and possible in a time of austerity.

“We have already removed a number of early intervention and preventative services, which we know help to maintain the resilience of communities and individuals and whose removal may lead to increased costs in the long term.

“The proposals which form the Core Offer make further reductions in these services.”

The plan includes £4.7m of savings from communities, education and transport, £3.7m from children’s services, £978,000 from adult social care, and £3.0m from business services and the Orbis shared services partnership with Brighton and Hove and Surrey County Council.

Looking to future cost savings, the council said it would update its treasury management strategy “with consideration of the basis for the calculation of the minimum revenue provision, opportunities to reduce the cost of debt and increase the level of investment income”.

In addition, it will update its capital strategy to reassess service needs and opportunities to refinance the program, “including reduction in the revenue contribution to capital”.

It will also review the overall use of working capital to support the MTFP, it said.

These financing measures could save between £3m and £8m, according to the report.

Council leader Keith Glazier, said: “We’d all like to provide more than a core service because none of us came into politics to make cuts, but this proposal is presented as a realistic ambition in a time of austerity.

“As an efficient and well-managed council, we’ve shown how much we can deliver for East Sussex, even in a severe financial climate.

“Agreeing a basic but decent core offer will help us continue that and we’ll make sure every penny spent has the greatest possible impact.”