Over the next four years the council must find £84 million in savings, on top of £99 million in savings already agreed. This follows a decade of chronic underfunding of local services, inflation and a big rise in demand for council support, especially when it comes to housing homeless families.
The council has taken urgent action to save money, reducing the number of senior staff, cutting agency workers and generating income. But the funding for the council from the government has fallen since 2010 in real terms by more than 28 per cent, which is the equivalent of £116 million a year less to spend on local services. Last year alone the council spent more than £100 million on housing homeless families, £40 million more than had been budgeted and 300 per cent more than six years ago.
More than two-thirds of the council’s budget is spent on caring for vulnerable children, adults and older people. Currently Lambeth spends £180 million a year looking after vulnerable adults, £90 million a year on looking after vulnerable children, £40 million on collecting waste and £10 million on street cleaning. A further £16 million a year is spent on parks and other places.
Cllr Claire Holland, the Leader of Lambeth Council, said: “We have been working hard to make savings, but the scale of the financial challenge we now face is unprecedented. We have to be open and honest with our residents about that.
“We are determined to protect the frontline services our most vulnerable residents rely on the most. But we want to shape how we do that with the input of local people, getting their views on where we best spend our remaining budget.
“Those views will then be fed into our budget setting process over the rest of this financial year. This isn’t a message we want to be sharing with our residents, but because of our financial situation we must work together for the best possible outcome.”
All spending is now under review, and residents can have their say on the Lambeth Council budget planning by completing the survey that is open from 22 September for four weeks.
