Southampton City Council adopts budget for 2023/24 despite financial pressures and increased demand for social care services

Southampton City Council has announced that they have adopted the proposed budget for the 2023/24 financial year, despite facing significant financial pressures due to increased demand for adult and children’s social care. At a meeting on 22 February, a majority of councillors voted in favour of the budget, which includes £33 million of additional costs and a draw on reserves of almost £21 million.

Councillor Satvir Kaur, Leader of Southampton City Council, acknowledged the challenging economic climate, stating that the council had to take “tough but necessary decisions” to protect services and deliver value for money. She explained that the council faced a funding shortfall of £42 million due to cuts to local authorities, increased interest rates, and higher inflation. However, she was pleased to report that over £22 million of savings were made through efficiencies and service improvements.

The proposed budget includes savings and efficiencies of £22 million, with over £20 million being made through service improvements and just over £1 million from income generation. The council’s Council Tax will increase by 4.99%, with the adult social care precept increasing by 2% and the core Council Tax increasing by 2.99%. The adult social care precept will provide approximately £2.2 million for supporting adults in the social care system, while the core Council Tax will generate around £3.3 million to maintain current levels of frontline services.

The council’s Council Tax support scheme, which provides support to around 20,000 Council Tax payers, will receive £0.4 million of grant funding to provide an extra discount of up to £25 for Council Tax support claimants in 2023/24. Additionally, a hardship fund of £0.34 million will be available to provide additional targeted support, and the council is partnering with the Wessex Community Bank to offer more financial support to individuals and community groups.

The proposed budget also includes a street lighting proposal to turn off streetlights between 1am and 4am in certain areas of the city. The proposal is expected to provide financial savings and environmental benefits, including a CO2 saving of at least approximately 162 tonnes. The council has been working closely with stakeholders and is currently liaising with partners, including emergency services, to implement the proposal in a flexible way.

The street lighting proposal includes exemptions for key areas such as the city centre, district and local shopping centres, the classified road network, main roads across the city, key CCTV monitoring locations, areas of high public patronage, known anti-social behaviour hotspots, certain streets due to traffic calming measures, roads with high risks of traffic accidents, parks, safe routes home, and lighting that is not on the public highway such as council housing and leisure land.

Councillor Kaur emphasised that the current situation is unsustainable in the long-term and pledged to continue lobbying the government to appropriately fund local authorities. She added that despite the financial pressures, the council remains ambitious for the city and will continue to focus on growth, jobs, investment, and delivering neighbourhoods to be proud of.