Rother councillors agree council tax increase

Rother councillors have agreed to increase council tax as part of their budget for the coming year. 
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On Monday (February 21), Rother District Council signed off its budget for the upcoming  2022/23 financial year. 

The agreed budget includes a 2.47 per cent council tax increases, plans to find savings and additional income of at least £635,000 and the use of £3.1m of reserves to balance its revenue budget. 

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These plans came under fire from the council’s opposition Conservative group, which argued the draw on reserves showed the council’s financial position was ‘rapidly deteriorating’.

Bexhill Town Hall SUS-200928-133414001Bexhill Town Hall SUS-200928-133414001
Bexhill Town Hall SUS-200928-133414001

In light of this, Conservatives put forward an amendment which would have required the council’s cabinet to set out ‘detailed’ plans to find £1.75m of savings in 2022/23, as well as to increase the authority’s income from property investments by at least £750,000.

The amendment, which was defeated, came in for significant criticism from members of the Rother Alliance, the council’s cross-party leadership.

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Liberal Democrat cabinet member for finance Kevin Dixon said: “I am lost for words chairman. This party opposite has just voted against what we want to do with property investment, a fantastic scheme that if they had come to cabinet they would know all about. 

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“But they didn’t and they don’t and they just voted against it. So why should I want to go along with their amendment that holds us to ransom basically, when they are not even supporting what we are doing.

“They don’t understand, they are not cooperating and they are not joining in with what this council is doing. 

“This council is looking to try and balance its budget over a period of time from a number of factors that have gone wrong, including the waste contract they’ve left us with.”

Cabinet members went on to criticise Conservative councillors for their previous administration’s record on financial management and income generation.

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Conservatives disputed this, arguing that their financial plans would have seen a greater level of reserves and more controlled spending. 

They also criticised the level of detail about the Alliance’s plans, particularly in terms of where the £635,000 of savings will fall. 

Conservative group leader Carl Maynard said: “What Cllr [John] Barnes’ amendment seeks to do is get some clarity in terms of any savings that this council may wish to undertake and in terms of its investment plan, so it is there in the public domain so that residents of Rother can fully understand what they are in for in the years to come.

“It is not about making a grandiose political statement, it is about actually facing up to the issues that this council faces in an honest and transparent fashion. That is precisely why that amendment has been put.”

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Cllr Maynard went on to criticise the Alliance for its handling of the Bexhill Leisure Centre project

A potentially £15m project to build a brand-new facility was put on hold amidst the pandemic in 2020.

He said: “The fact of the matter is that [the last] administration left you with a dowry of over £18m, which you are doing your very best to squander with ill-thought out projects throughout the whole of the district. 

“When it comes to 2023 the residents of Rother will once again have an opportunity to once again support a Conservative administration that will deliver on capital projects, rather than the one opposite from the Alliance — the Alliance of the left — which will see more spending and poorer services.”

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This argument saw criticism from Alliance councillors, who argued it was the previous administration’s decisions that had left reserves under threat.

Cllr Jonathan Vine-Hall, an Independent group cabinet member, said: “It is constantly shocking. On day one of this administration we were told by [former chief financial officer] Robin Vennard that unless something happened this council would be in terminal decline.

“That decline has been stopped at every point possible, including the leisure centre which would have taken £6m out of reserves. What would our reserves look like today if those £6m had come out, as a loan against [Community Infrastructure Levy monies]?

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“What a ridiculous plan. What poor financial management. That was your plan.”

Following further debate the amendment was defeated and the budget approved on a majority vote.

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