£13 million savings proposals considered

Proposals to save £13m will be considered next month (July), as the first step towards meeting next year's £60m target.

Norfolk County Council's cabinet will discuss the first batch of proposals, with a further £47m due to be considered in October.

Councillor Andrew Jamieson, cabinet member for finance, said: "Like all councils, we were facing higher costs and demand for services, even before the recent rise in inflation.

"A £60m target is the highest we've faced in recent years, so it makes sense to start the process now, with an initial range of proposals.

"I'm determined to transform services, so that we can deliver them in a more cost effective way that's fit for the future."

Cabinet will consider proposals to save:

• £6.45m from adult social services, including use of reserves and more savings from existing programmes
• £3m from children's services, including withdrawing from the Professional Development Centre in Woodside
• £2.1m from community and environmental services, including a review of the mobile library service, Wednesday closures of recycling centres and reduction of weedkilling on highways to one treatment per year
• £200,000 from strategy and transformation, through professional leads
• £50,000 from governance, by increasing income from the registration service
• £1m from finance and commercial services, through annual income from the council's company, Repton Property Developments Ltd

If cabinet supports the proposals, the public will be consulted over the summer to inform a redesign of the mobile library service, to save £200,000 from its £422,000 per year budget. Further consultations on other budget proposals will take place in the autumn.

The Council will propose a Council Tax level for 2023/24 later this year, once it has received guidance from the Government. Until then, the Council's planning assumption is 2.99 per cent, including a one per cent adult social care precept.

 Finalised budget proposals will be considered by cabinet, early next year, before the full council takes a final decision in February 2023.

Cabinet will consider the report when it meets at 10am on Monday, July 4. Watch the meeting, live or afterwards and read the reports online.