Horsham District Council has ‘maintained sound financial position’ says Tory leadership

Members of the cabinet recommended the rise to full council, saying it was inflationary only and was among the lowest 25 per cent in the country.

It will see the district’s bill for a Band D home rise from £145.60 to £149.53.

Figures put before the meeting suggested a 3.2 per cent rise – £4.66 per year on a Band D property – but leader Ray Dawe pointed out that it had dropped to 2.7 per cent following December’s inflation forecast.

He added: “This group has made a pledge that we would not increase council tax above inflation.”

When it came to the budget, Mr Dawe told members that Horsham was in a position to maintain all its services and deliver a £19.8m capital programme.

Among the projects agreed for investment were: the completion of the redevelopment of Piries Place in the town centre, more temporary housing for the homeless, more money for affordable rented homes, a skate park for Horsham Park, and improvements to Warnham Local Nature Reserve.

The council will also see the completion of the £12.3m leisure centre – The Bridge – at Broadbridge Heath.

Jonathan Chowen, cabinet member for leisure and culture, told the meeting: “The demolition of the old centre is moving at quite a pace. They’re grinding it up now to make into the foundations for the car park. It does look amazing.”

Mr Chowen added that it was ‘very reassuring and very pleasing’ to see how well the project was progressing.

While figures for 2019/20 were sound, things were more uncertain for the following years.

Work had been carried out on a medium term strategy, but Brexit, the government’s fair funding review, the proposed localisation of business rates and predictions of a world recession meant there were uncertainties.

Mr Dawe said: “In summary, 2019/20 looks good – in fact very good – however, the level of uncertainty on the medium term makes us unsure at this stage whether we’ve taken enough action, too much or too little to deal with an uncertain future.”

After the meeting, he said: “With councils facing reduced government financial support and in a period with a high degree of national economic and political uncertainty, we have maintained our sound financial position.

 “We shall be working to continue to deliver our plans to maintain this position through a combination of measures such as income generation, service and productivity reviews, and better procurement.”

The budget will be put to a meeting of the full council on February 13.