Council Leader vows authority is in "strong position" as budget discussions continue

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's Leader says the authority is "making excellent progress" and starting to deliver the savings it needs to make, despite remaining financial pressures.

A report on the Council's budget and Medium Term Financial Plan will be considered by the Council's Cabinet on Monday, February 10.

The report proposes a Council Tax increase of 4.95 per cent, with 2.95 per cent on core Council services and 2 per cent on the Government's adult social care levy.

Since the introduction of the "Powering Our Future" transformation programme in late 2023, the Council has explored and identified new ways of working.

And Councillor Bob Cook's comments follow on from a vow that the authority "remained ambitious" when budget discussions got underway last December.

"Despite the financial challenges we face, we are in a much stronger position than other councils up and down the country, thanks to our well-considered and carefully managed transformation programme," said Councillor Cook.

He continued: "Our transformation programme has the clear aim of identifying high spend areas where we can look at reducing costs, while also improving outcomes for our residents. 

"There's a particular focus on children's services where we are looking at ways to bring children in our care back into the Borough instead of paying for expensive placements - and in adult social care where we are working towards keeping people living independently in their own homes for longer.

"We're working hard to recruit more foster carers, and our Edge of Care Team are doing all they can to help children and young people stay with their families where it is safe to do so. Plus, new technology has helped improve the way we work in adult social care, for example we have piloted new activity monitoring technology which has improved the safety, health, and well-being of those who have used it.

"We're making excellent progress, already delivering over half the savings we need to achieve. The first of the new ways of working identified through the transformation programme have begun to be introduced over the last few months. We are already seeing those savings come through and these will continue to increase across the next two years.

"However, we know that demand in particular for children's and adult services will continue to rise. This means we can't be complacent, and we must keep going with our transformation programme so we can make sure we continue to reshape to deliver our services within the budget we have available to us. 

"And as always, our ambitions remain the same to deliver a bright future for everyone across the Stockton-on-Tees Borough, which is such a great place to live, work and play."

Councillors will be asked to agree the budget proposals in a meeting of Full Council on Wednesday 19 February.