No Hike to General Council Tax as Rutland Unveils ‘Legacy’ Budget Ahead of Reorganisation

No Hike to General Council Tax as Rutland Unveils ‘Legacy’ Budget Ahead of Reorganisation
By Local Democracy Reporter

Rutland County Council has green-lit a landmark budget for 2026-2027 that freezes the general portion of council tax, a move described by finance chiefs as a "cautious but ambitious" shield for residents during a period of historic structural change.

At a meeting last night, Councillor Andrew Johnson (Liberal Democrat, Braunston & Martinsthorpe), the Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Governance and Resources, introduced his third and penultimate budget before the county undergoes local government reorganisation.

Despite battling what he jokingly called a "bit irritating Canadian bug," Cllr Johnson delivered a robust defense of the council’s fiscal strategy, which includes a 2% increase specifically for the adult social care precept but keeps the general council tax bill at 0%.

Cllr Johnson didn’t mince words regarding the central government’s treatment of rural authorities. He revealed that "Fair Funding" reforms have actually resulted in a 19% reduction in real-terms funding for Rutland.

"We are extremely disappointed," Cllr Johnson told the chamber. "Rural authorities will now receive on average 32% less funding than urban authorities. The Leader and I wrote to the Secretary of State in January to seek clarification on a formula which seemed to remove funding from Rutland at every opportunity."

He warned that as government grants dwindle, the council is increasingly reliant on local taxation, which is expected to represent 80% of its spending power by the end of the current plan.

While day-to-day spending is being tightened, the council is pivoting toward an ambitious £31 million capital investment programme. Cllr Johnson framed these projects as a "legacy" that must be made "irreversible" before the new successor authority takes over.

Investment highlights include:

£8.6m for Health & Wellbeing: Including diagnostic upgrades at Rutland Memorial Hospital and a new Meditech facility.

£7.7m for Economic Growth: Funding the new Local Plan and public realm upgrades.

£4m for Climate Action: Launching food waste collections and active travel infrastructure.

£1.8m for Children & Families: Including a new placement home to keep vulnerable children within the county.

Addressing concerns about delivery, Cllr Johnson a former Managing Director of capital projects promised a "central project management office" to keep schemes on track. "Capital projects are just about time, specification, and cost," he said. "Our job is to get these projects to a stage where they are not reversible by the coming authority."

The budget was not without its "difficult decisions." Cllr Johnson defended a shift toward a "user pays" model for non-statutory services, specifically regarding green waste collection and post-16 school transport.

On the increase in green waste charges, he argued: "We should not ask those residents living in apartments, flats, or terraces to subsidise those who live in larger gardens."

Similarly, he addressed the reduction in subsidies for post-16 transport, calling it a matter of fairness. "It is unfair to expect those residents who live in dwellings in Band A to D to subsidise those who live in Band E to H," he stated, adding that a financial crisis fund remains available via Citizens Advice Rutland for those in genuine hardship.

Rejecting calls from "the party opposite" to dip into the council’s savings to further benefit residents before reorganisation, Cllr Johnson labelled such a move "dangerous."

"We do not intend to utilise reserves to pay for general day-to-day expenditure," he insisted, citing ongoing risks such as the schools grant deficit. "We need to be prudent. It’s about ensuring the new authority inherits financial stability, discipline, and a clear strategic intent."

In a pointed moment, Cllr Johnson expressed disappointment that only 11 councillors attended recent budget briefings. "I don’t wish to lecture," he said, "but if councillors do not engage when given the opportunity, it is not surprising that their ideas are not able to be incorporated."

He concluded by praising the council’s finance team recently named finalists for a national 'Team of the Year' award for producing what he called the most "transparent and readable" budget in the council's history.

 

What Cllr Johnson said during the budget proposal and summing up before the vote.

Thank you Chairman. I apologise for my voice, I appear to have picked up a Canadian bug which is a bit irritating but I will try to make sure I'm clear. 

I'm delighted to introduce this, my third budget to the Council.

We have continued our strategy of improving budgeting based on our overriding objective of financial sustainability. As Rutland prepares for structural change, this budget ensures stability today and safeguards our values for tomorrow. This budget is the penultimate budget to form local government reorganisation, carrying forward Rutland's focus on prevention, strong communities and our four corporate priorities.

This budget responds to the latest UK government changes, incorporating both the final settlement derived from Fair Funding Round and the High Needs Stability Grant announced on 9 February. The reduction in rural funding in particular means that we are increasingly relying on capital tax to provide our funding and will continue to do so. We are expecting it to represent some 80% of our core spending power by the end of the plan.

The financial funding environment over the next few years is subject to a unique series of risks which we must navigate and navigate successfully. We are extremely disappointed by the final settlement of funding from government, particularly that rural authorities will now receive on average 32% less funding than urban authorities. In fact the Leader and I wrote to the Secretary of State in January to seek clarification on the final formula which seemed to remove funding from Rutland at every opportunity.

The budget for you is a balanced budget despite our funding from UK government being reduced in so-called Fair Funding by some 19% including inflation by the end of the plan period and our business rates with retention reducing by some 4 million. Rutland is entering one of its most significant financial planning periods. This budget and the medium term financial strategy set the course for the final years before local government reorganisation.

It is our intention that the new authority inherits from Rutland financial stability, discipline and a clear strategic intent. Incredibly given this backdrop we have managed to reduce the increase in council tax to only 2% increase in adult social care precept with no increase at all in the general precept. This is in comparison to the overall increase of 5% the UK government has assumed.

This has been achieved through a very thorough budgeting process and adopting a series of guiding principles that give us a strong foundation for decision making. We are very proud that we have managed to ensure that Rutland residents as a whole can benefit from this reduction. Additionally a reduced increase at this time will ensure that Rutland residents benefit earlier from any council tax harmonisation planned by the new authority post reorganisation as we anticipate that as a result of this process council tax for Rutland residents will indeed reduce.

This budget continues our policy of revenue investments that drive growth, resilience, transformation and those that make a difference to Rutland residents and businesses. The highlights are that we have invested £4 million for climate action including the Food Waste Collection Rollout, the Local Area Energy Plan Delivery and Active Travel Infrastructure. £7.7 million for economic growth including the new Local Plan and the Walthouse Master Plan, the Cultural Centre Development and Public Realm Upgrades.

£1.4 million in supporting vulnerable residents including expansion of community care, crisis response facilities, a CQC Improvement Plan and demand level pressures. £1.8 million for children and families including the launch of a new placement home, care commissioning improvements and support for complex placements and adaptions. £8.6 million in health and wellbeing including the integrated health  and social care front door within local rents, pipeline developments of a Meditech facility and Rutland Memorial Hospital diagnostic upgrades.

And finally almost half a million in digital and governance which includes the cyber security enhancements that we need to make as cyber security becomes even more important. Further developments for the customer relationship management system including AI pilots and business intelligence capabilities. At the same time it is important to remember that this budget is not just about numbers.

It is about working together to keep services strong and making capital tax increases as low as possible. Our residents play a vital role by making choices that help us reduce costs and improve efficiency such as recycling more, choosing healthy lifestyles to prevent future care needs, accessing online services and seeking support early through initiatives like the Low Income Family Tracker or Disabled Facilities Grants. Working together vital services are protected, investment is made in what matters most and council tax increases are kept to a minimum.

Somewhat no doubt saying that we should use our reserves to benefit Rutland residents before reorganisation as they are paid for it. At first glance this has attractions but if we take our fiscal responsibilities more seriously and we need to be cautious. We decided a reserves policy in September 2023 which is still relevant and necessary today.

Although the risk of our needing to fund the entirety of a direct schools grant override has reduced we are still required to fund some 10% of the sum which could amount to well over 2 million pounds. Indeed the 90% grant is still subject to rules and full redemption carries some risk. We must protect the general fund for operating reasons and have a programme to utilise some of the amount of reserves for transformation of services.

Whilst some risks have reduced others have increased and therefore we need to apply this policy approvably as we have done over the last few years. We do not intend to utilise reserves to pay for general day to day expenditure as some authorities have chosen to as we believe this to be dangerous. Necessarily then in a climate of significantly reduced funding we have to make difficult decisions to reduce expenditure.

In doing this we have adopted two strong principles. Firstly that we will do our best to protect the vulnerable unless we are not in that county and secondly that the users of non-statutory services should pay for the costs of those services. This means that we have had to review and reduce expenditure in areas where we believe we are either providing more than neighbouring authorities or that the users of those services should pay for the costs of providing them.

Post 16 transport to schools is one area that has been affected by these decisions. We decided to reduce our support for post 16 transport because there was evidence that we would be more generous to our neighbouring authorities and that there was a trend of increasing claims taking advantage of that generosity. We believe that it is unfair to expect those residents who live in dwellings that are in band A to D to subsidise those who live in dwellings from band E to band H. How can we justify this sort of cross subsidy to those residents in bands A to D. There will always be exceptions but it is wrong to do this and we intend to stand up for this principle.

If there are residents who are genuinely in a financial crisis because of these decisions then we have a financial crisis fund that is available for them should they choose to apply through Citizens Advice Rutland. We have received some criticism for making these decisions from the party opposite and welcome the chance to put our case to the scrutiny committee so that the facts can be established. Similarly the principle of user pays applies to green waste collection charges.

We should not ask those residents living in apartments, flats or terraces to subsidise those who live in the larger gardens. We can't and do not make a profit from our additional services but do need to recoup the full cost of providing charges in neighbouring authorities and made the decision to increase our green waste charges for the next year. The charges that we have decided to apply are less than the charges applied by two of our neighbouring authorities in one case considerably less.

The support previously available to low income households is government dependent and is changing from a household support grant to a crisis and resilience fund. More will be known by April. Low income households who cannot cope will be able to apply for support in a different way.

A budget is not just about revenue expenditure it is about much more including the capital projects that we intend to develop during the period. We have a very ambitious programme of some £31 million worth of capital expenditure during the next year. Much of which will be connected to a legacy which we believe for the time reorganisation happens.

We will need to be nimble to make sure that all these projects reach the level of completion that we want them to. The priorities of those projects which we believe will be important to other residents after reorganisation. There isn't sufficient time for me to talk about all the projects that we will undertake so I will highlight  a few of those that are detailed in the back.

Under tackling the climate emergency we are looking at active travel schemes through open to rough water and cold over some road that will cost £3 million. We are looking at spending £500,000 on biodiversity net gain. A diverse and sustainable local economy we are spending £6 million on the cultural centre, £1 million on public rail strategy, £4.3 million on the Lough Meditech Innovation Centre, £13.3 million on the highways capital programme and £9.1 million on the local transport plan.

In providing effective public services we are spending £2.6 million on the local link We are spending £40,000 in x-ray provision for the county at Rutland Memorial Hospital. In supporting the most vulnerable we are spending £1.5 million on the Children's Capital Placement Programme which will allow us to offer facilities that we have not previously offered. We are spending £2.6 million on the Send Capital Expenditure Programme and we are supporting health provision at Rotherham Memorial to the tune of £1.2 million as part of our Lough commitment.

In preparing this budget we have tried to consult across all parties and groups in the Council so that we share our thinking and get alternative ideas. As a principle we want to be transparent and consultative. In particular we have held individual sessions with the Shadow Portfolio Order for Finance to ensure that the party is briefed on our proposals and understands the funding environment.

Additionally we have held two briefing sessions for all councillors during the budget process although it is very disappointing that only 11 councillors turned up for the first briefing. The vast majority of these being from my party. I don't wish to lecture but if councillors will display this level of interest and do not engage when given the opportunity it is not surprising that their ideas are not able to be incorporated.

At this point I would particularly like to thank everybody on our finance team for their hard work in preparing this budget and MTFS. Much has depended on the leadership of Kirsten Hutton and Andrew Merry but there are many unsolved areas that have contributed both in finance and in the wider organisation. They have stuck to a very thorough process that has resulted in a robust assumption for the underpinned budget at the same time as making it the most transparent and understandable that we have produced.

It is very gratifying to learn that they have been named as finalists for the award of finance team of the year by a national trade journal. I congratulate them all and am very proud of them. I commend this budget, the medium term financial strategy to the council and propose that it be approved as detailed.

I just want to make a point that I think we need to be very careful about. It is a grant and we are yet to see the full qualification criteria for the grant as far as I am aware. So I think we just need to be a little bit careful thinking that everything is solved because this Government does seem to favour urban areas far more than rural areas and there are other ways that that amount can be skewed.

So I do think we just need to be careful thinking that that is going to happen. It is one of the reasons why I talked to Kirsty the Finance Director about this and we view that there are still a lot of risks ahead of us and that is why we really don't want to change things like reserves at all because we believe that we may well need them and we need to be prudent. So the next thing to cover is the capital projects 

What assurance can I give you? The assurance I can give you is that I have dealt with major capital projects in the past and I have been the Managing Director of Capital Projects if they are accountable for those projects. Anything up to £45-50 million for a project. So I know how to manage capital projects and I am in constant discussion with the officers about this and everybody is aware that we have a challenge ahead of us in the next year.

That is not something to be taken lightly and the good thing is that as a result of those and other discussions that obviously the officers have been having there has been a change in structure that was approved this morning which means we will have a more central project management office. Now I think that is actually quite fundamental because I have a fairly simplistic view of capital projects and I haven't managed to be nimble on capital projects in the past despite my appearance and capital projects are just about time, specification and cost and you just have to keep focussing on those things. Now other people will say quite rightly that local government is more complex than it is than the private sector because there are changes in government, changes in conditions, changes in grants and all the rest of it.

So it isn't quite as easy as that but we all know I think that our job is to get all these capital projects to a stage where they are not reversible by the coming authority and that is really the important thing. So will we spend all the £31 million that is in the plan? I am not sure but I do know that, we have objectives to make sure that it is as effective as possible. So that is the assurance that I am prepared to give you at this stage.

I am hoping that we are able to deliver exactly as we have put into project. There were a number of other comments that I will pick up separately if I can. Some of them were in detail, Councillor Dinsmore had a detailed list but I would like to have it in writing if that is possible.

One of the things that I would say is that it is our objective that the budget is as transparent and readable as possible and understandable as possible. Wherever we can improve I would like to think that we try to improve. The art of writing policies is to make them as flexible as you need and as definitive as you don't want them to be.

You have to write policies in a certain way. I think schedules of charges historically are something that is doable but I am not sure if it forms part of the budget process, it may form part of the information that we can give. I think the last point that Cllr Corbyn was making about the general public and the residents that we serve is that too many make assumptions about us and are very suspicious of us.

They all think we get paid far too much, they all think that we spend all our time on jollies and collecting bribes and all sorts of things that are really not part of our agenda. I know because I used to be one of those. But all we can do is try and make sure we communicate the right things in the right way.

 I'm delighted to be here today to talk about the Charges in Neighbouring Authorities and make the decision to increase our green waste charges for the next year. The charges that we have decided to apply are less than the charges applied by two of our  neighbouring authorities, in one case considerably less. The support previously available to low-income households is government dependent and is changing from the household support grant to the crisis and resilience fund.

More will be known by April. Low income households who cannot cope will be able to apply for support in a different way. A budget is not just about revenue expenditure, it is about much more, including the capital projects that we intend to develop during the period.

We have a very ambitious programme of some £31 million worth of capital expenditure during the next year, much of which will be connected to a legacy with which to live for the time reorganisation happens. We will need to be nimble to make sure that all these projects reach the level of completion that we want them to. The priorities of those projects which we believe will be important to local residents after reorganisation.

There isn't sufficient time for me to talk about all the projects that we will undertake, so I will highlight a few of those that are detailed in the back.  Under tackling the climate emergency, we are looking at active travel schemes through open to rough and watery roads that will cost £3 million. We are looking at spending £500,000 on biodiversity net gain.

A diverse and sustainable local economy, we are spending £6 million on the cultural centre, £1 million on the public rail strategy, £4.3 million on the Lough Meditech Innovation Centre, £13.3 million on the highways capital programme and £9.1 million on the local transport plan. In providing effective public services, we are spending £2.6 million on the local link. We are spending £40,000 in x-ray provision for the county at At Memorial Hospital.

In supporting the most vulnerable, we are spending £1.5 million on the Children's Capital Placement Programme, which will allow us to offer facilities that we have not previously offered. We are spending £2.6 million on the SEND Capital Expenditure Programme, and we are supporting health provision at Rotherham Memorial to the tune of £1.2 million as part of our Lough commitment. In preparing this budget, we have tried to consult across all parties and groups in the Council, so that we share our thinking and get alternative ideas.

As a principle, we want to be transparent and consultative. In particular, we have held individual sessions with the Shadow Portfolio Order for Finance, to ensure that the party is brief on our proposals and understands the funding environment. Additionally, we have held two briefing sessions for all councillors during the budget process, although it is very disappointing that only 11 councillors turned up for the first briefing, the vast majority of these being from my party.

 I don't wish to lecture, but if councillors will display this level of interest and do not engage when given the opportunity, it is not surprising that their ideas are not able to be incorporated. At this point, I would particularly like to thank everybody on our finance team for their hard work in preparing this budget and MPFS. Much has depended on the leadership of Kirsten Latton and Andrew Merritt, but there are many unsolved areas that have contributed, both in finance and in the wider organisation.

They have stuck to a very thorough process that has resulted in a robust assumption for the underpinning budget, at the same time as making it the most transparent and understandable that we have produced. It is very gratifying to learn that they have been named as finalists for the Awarded Finance Team of the Year by a national trade journal. I congratulate them all and am very proud of them.

I commend this budget, the medium term financial strategy to the Council and propose that it be approved as detailed.