Buckinghamshire Council's Cabinet has agreed its updated Medium Term Financial Plan

Buckinghamshire Council's Cabinet agreed its updated Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) yesterday, setting out budget proposals for the coming financial year.

The council has once again put forward a balanced budget, as it is legally required to do, but warns that it is doing so under what it says are increasingly difficult national funding conditions, including the central government’s recent 'Fair Funding Review', which they say is diverting vital resources away from Buckinghamshire.

The council says that the ‘Fair Funding Review’ has meant that Buckinghamshire is losing out by £44.4 million, which they explain could place even more strain on their finances - especially as the demand for statutory services continues to grow. Although the government calculations explicitly include an increase of 4.99% per year in Council Tax, the council warn that even with the rise in local tax, the total funding available to Buckinghamshire Council rises by only 8.1% in the coming three-year period, which they say is barely above expected inflation and well below the national average increase of 15.1%.

The council also added that the central government has withdrawn funding from key local services and infrastructure, which shifts more costs and responsibility onto local taxation. This includes the cancellation of a new Special Educational Needs (SEN) school in recent weeks, which would have provided 152 new SEN places, leaving Buckinghamshire Council to fill the gaps. 

Despite the challenges they have outlined, the council feel that the MTFP, which will now go forward for scrutiny before final consideration at Full Council in February, demonstrates significant investment in the services and priorities that residents raised during the budget consultation last year.

These include:

•  £120 million for strategic highways maintenance 
• A further £98 million invested in other transport priorities including bridge maintenance, footways, drainage, streetlighting and bus infrastructure improvements, meaning a total investment of nearly £220 million
• £49.7 million on Special Educational Needs provision 
• £107.7 million on Primary and Secondary schools, and school improvement projects
• £108.2 million on strategic infrastructure in Aylesbury via the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF)
• £46.8 million investment in waste, including a new household recycling centre and vehicle replacement
• £28.1 million to support housing and homelessness including affordable housing to reduce temporary accommodation costs, and disabled facilities grants
• £11.6 million on climate change and flood management

Talking about the plan, Buckinghamshire Council Leader Steven Broadbent said:

"This is an extremely challenging national context in which we have put forward our budget proposals. That said, I am proud that we are still able to focus investment into the priority areas our residents want their local tax to be spent on – roads, community facilities and services to help people who need extra support.

"Overall, however, this is simply an unfair funding system for Buckinghamshire residents. 

"Not only are we losing out to the tune of £44.4 million as a result of the so‑called 'Fair Funding Review' – which is anything but fair – but our residents are also being let down by central government cutting other budgets and investments too. 

"More and more is falling to the council and ultimately to local taxpayers to shoulder the burden. That said, because of our strong financial record, the millions of pounds worth of savings we have made and our finances being in a pressured but stable position, we can still prioritise what matters most to Buckinghamshire residents.

"We are continuing to protect essential services, invest in our communities and maintain our focus on efficiency, value for money and delivering for local people. I urge people to examine in full the details of the budget plans we are putting forward."