Suffolk County Council has now published its budget for 2015/16 and this will be considered by the Cabinet on Tuesday before being debated by full council on 12th February.
We will be seeking to fill a budget gap of some £38m next year and we are aiming to do this largely through a series of transformation programmes. These are based on radical service redesign, increased use of IT, demand management and partnership working. We very much hope that these will prove succesful since they are the main hope of maintaining front line services while saving money.
One of the most uncertain and highest risk areas for us over the next year or so is the implementation of the Care Act. This comes into force in stages this year and next. The Act involves us in a range of increased responsibilities in the area of care, particularly in respect of those needing care in their own homes. We have received an additional £7m or so to help us with this, but we estimate that this sum is not really adequate to do all that is required by the Act. Demand for care in a county such as Suffolk, which has a disproportionate number of people over 65, rises exponentially every year and it is a real challenge to know how this growth can be contained within current budgets.
If you are interested in the details of the Care Act, there is a useful introductory video available here.
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