EHDC has overcome the difficult financial climate to keep Council Tax low and make sure that welfare remains at the heart of our work.
Welfare is one of our top priorities and once again we plan to put funds aside specifically to support local people in need.
The budget for the next financial year (2023/2024) is currently being discussed by councillors and won’t be fully approved until Thursday 23 February.
We have had to overcome tough financial pressures to produce a balanced budget, including £2.4 million in rising inflation costs. This has been met through investment returns, more efficient services and from savings accrued from splitting with Havant Borough Council.
This year the Government allowed councils to increase Council Tax by up to 3 per cent but we are planning an increase of just 2 per cent, keeping our Council Tax among the lowest in the area.
And we will put the money raised – around £150,000 - into helping the district’s most vulnerable people.
Cllr Richard Millard, EHDC Leader, said: “As a council it is our responsibility and our privilege to provide support and care for our residents.
“It is right that we support those that need our help. This small increase, which represents just a few pounds a year to Council Tax payers, will mean we can do a lot of good in the district.
“I am delighted that, even with steepling inflation, we are still able to set aside funds for projects like these.”
In total the budget sets aside £350,000 to support schemes for community welfare and wellbeing in East Hampshire. An incredible achievement considering the current financial challenges.
The £2.4 million increase in costs, largely down to inflation, has been tackled in several ways. A transformation process - a concerted effort to re-shape our services and devise new, more efficient ways to deliver them - is expected to save £500,000 in efficiencies, with more to come.
Successful cash investments have reaped another £500,000, and the same sum again will be saved in staffing costs thanks to the separation from Havant Borough Council.
Cllr Charles Louisson, EHDC Portfolio Holder for Finance, said: “In an incredibly difficult year we have produced a budget that is balanced, that protects our services and that cares for our residents’ welfare.
“We have worked really hard to ensure this budget does not dip into our reserves and looks to the future financial security of the council.
“Our transformation programme and our separation from Havant Borough Council will pay dividends for us as we continue to find the most efficient and flexible ways to deliver our services.
“But it is largely down to the financial prudence we have shown over previous years that has given us the stable financial platform we stand on today.”
For Band D properties, the increase represents a rise of just £2.78 per year, bringing the total Council Tax paid to EHDC to £141.92 a year.
Council Tax payments can be spread across the whole year, so reducing monthly instalments. Households can choose to pay over ten months, which is traditional, or across 12 months, which reduces the monthly payment by about 15 per cent.