Release date: 04 November 2024
West Sussex County Council wants to hear your views about its budget and priorities and how it spends taxpayers’ money as it works to close a budget gap of up to £38.5m for the coming year (2025-2026).
The county council reported in July that it was facing a budget gap of £60m in 2025-2026. This figure has now reduced, and projections show the figure could be brought down further to £8.2m if a decision is made to increase council tax.
The county council provides around 80% of local government services to more than 900,900 people and touches the lives of every resident and business in West Sussex, as well as tens of thousands of visitors.
Services provided by the county council include adults’ and children’s social care, education, public health, fire and rescue, roads, libraries, trading standards, economic development, and waste disposal and recycling.
However, the demand for these services costs more than the funding available, which includes council tax paid by residents.
Cllr Paul Marshall, Leader of West Sussex County Council, said: “We remain committed to delivering services that support our communities and vulnerable people, but we will face tough decisions if levels of funding are not addressed nationally.
"Uncertainty with inflation, interest rates, a new government, and the longer-term outlook for local government funding, means setting our budget for the years ahead is challenging.
“We will continue to lobby government for sufficient, long-term funding for our residents and businesses.”
Cllr Jeremy Hunt, West Sussex Cabinet Member for Finance and Property, said: “We are continuing to feel the pressure of increased demand on our services and the increasing complex needs of the residents in our care.
“We are also working hard on transformation programmes that will make the council more efficient including Children’s and Adults’ Services improvement programmes, Smarter Working, a new Digital Strategy, and increased Highways funding.
“Residents’ input is vital to the budget process, and we want to hear whether people think we are spending the right amount on services and what approach they think we should take to balance our budget.”
The breadth of the services provided by the county council is vast. You may have come into contact with the county council if you’ve ever:
- driven or cycled on the roads
- needed social care as an adult or child
- visited a Recycling Centre
- needed foster care
- suffered domestic abuse
- wanted help to start up a business
- read a book from the library
- been a school pupil or have children of school age
- registered a birth or death
- enjoyed a walk along a countryside footpath
- needed the support of the Fire and Rescue Service
People are encouraged to find out more about the consultation by visiting: www.westsussex.gov.uk/budget. An Easy Read version of the consultation is also available.
Anyone without access to the internet can visit a library or family hub to complete the consultation. For anyone needing further support completing an online form, help can be arranged from a digital volunteer.
Alternatively, people can request a printed version is sent to them, with a freepost return envelope, by calling 01243 777 100.
The consultation closes at 11.55pm on Sunday 15 December and all comments will be considered as part of the budget setting process for 2025/26.
The Cabinet is due to consider feedback from the public consultation at a meeting in January before recommending the Council Plan and budget to Full Council in February for a final decision.
You can find out more about what the county council does and the services it provides in its Annual Report for 2023/24 at www.westsussex.gov.uk/AnnualReport
The report details achievements around the county council’s key priorities which are: keeping people safe from vulnerable situations; a sustainable and prosperous economy; helping people and communities fulfil their potential and making the best use of resources, all underpinned with a cross-cutting theme of protecting the environment.
Highlights for 2023/24 include:
- 11,211 people received long-term adult social care support
- 5,335 people visited by our fire service to improve their fire safety
- 4,616 local businesses supported to start, revive, innovate, and grow
- 540+ road, footpath, drainage and transport improvement schemes delivered
- 7.89m uses of our libraries’ digital and virtual services
- 94% of pupils attend a West Sussex school rated ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’
- 2m+ visits booked to a Recycling Centre via our online booking system since it was introduced
- 115,276m2 of operational property, reduced by 3.5% from previous year
- 7 libraries, 6 fire stations, 1 day centre renovated to reduce their carbon footprint
- 10.5km of new cycle infrastructure.
