A very Happy New Year!
Consultation on Draft Council Budget
Views are invited on Charnwood Borough Council’s draft budget for 2025/26.
The Council’s draft budget shows the authority is continuing to focus on careful financial management and ensuring value for money.
The Borough Council is responsible for a range of services such as maintaining hundreds of acres of open spaces, planning, council housing and bin collections as well as operating three leisure centres, Loughborough Town Hall and Charnwood Museum.
However, most of the council tax that residents pay, around 90% goes to other organisations such as the county council, police and fire services.
The draft budget proposes increasing Charnwood’s share of Council tax by either £5 a year or 3%. In 24/25, the Charnwood element of the average Band D council tax bill was around £145 for the year.
To view the report and to have a say in the consultation, visit www.charnwood.gov.uk/budget
The consultation closes at 11.59pm on Sunday, 12 January 2025.
A paper copy of the report is available at the Council offices and to have a say in writing, you can also write to Charnwood Borough Council Draft Budget Consultation 2025-26, Charnwood Borough Council, Southfield Road, Loughborough, LE11 2TX.
Devolution White Paper
The English Devolution White Paper was published by the Government just before Christmas.
The White Paper promises the biggest local government overhaul in a generation. Its headlines include a strategic authority for every area, with most having an elected mayor and a standardised list of enhanced powers; and the removal of two local government tiers, where these still exist, below strategic authorities.
We sit in a two-tier area, with Charnwood Borough Council and Leicestershire County Council delivering different services to the same residents. Charnwood is one of seven boroughs and districts that operate within Leicestershire.
The Government announced plans to merge local authorities in certain areas as well as new powers for Mayors across a wide range of services and sectors including planning, transport, employment and the environment.
The Government’s stated goal is to extend and expand devolution across England by developing new ’Strategic Authorities’, whilst also supporting local government reorganisation, to lead to a more efficient state.
Below, we summarise the key reforms and consider the extent to which local authorities will be obliged to act on them.
Strategic Authorities
The White Paper proposes the introduction of ‘Strategic Authorities’; regional bodies created to streamline decision-making across local councils within a region.
Strategic Authorities, which will be either ‘Foundation’ (not led by a Mayor) or ‘Mayoral’, will comprise a number of councils working together with the intention of avoiding the duplication of efforts and to give regions a unified voice.
The Government’s preference is for combining multiple authorities over a large geography, taking into account factors such as scale, economies, and identities.
The Government also intends to grant itself a ministerial directive to create Strategic Authorities in any places where local leaders have not agreed on how devolved powers should be accessed.
Increased Powers and Budgets for Mayors
The White Paper proposes putting Mayors ‘front and centre’, introducing more directly-elected Mayors to increase accountability.
In addition, the Government proposes providing Mayors with significant increases in powers in what the government calls ‘the devolution offer’.
The proposed increases to mayoral powers can be categorised in four ways: (i) the power to make important decisions, (ii) the power to control budgets and funding, (iii) the power to set long-term plans and strategies, and (iv) the power to implement policies directly – rather than relying on central government.
Reorganisation of Local Authorities
The White Paper proposes a ‘programme of local government reorganisation’, inviting proposals from all two-tier areas and ‘failing’ unitary councils to introduce sustainable unitary structures.
The Government indicates its ambition to reorganise as quickly as possible into ‘new unitary councils’ of the correct size to achieve efficiencies.
The White Paper suggests that legislation will be introduced ‘where it becomes necessary’ to ensure effective reorganisation can take place.
It is a very complex paper, and local authorities are still taking some time to work through all the content and its implications, but we wanted to highlight that there could be big changes happening in our area.
Here are the key points below for you. We will provide further updates as discussion progress.
- The government plans to deepen the powers of mayors
- The government will make it easier for mayors to build houses and infrastructure in your area
- The funding of combined/strategic authorities will be reformed
- Ministers intend to fill the devolution map by creating large regional authorities
- The government recognises the need for investment into combined authority governance and capacity
- The government commits to public service reform
- The white paper will kick off a radical reorganisation of local government
- It is still unclear how the government wants to hold local government to account
- The white paper proposals will put English devolution on a firmer constitutional footing.
New Year, New You?
Active Charnwood offers walking groups, fitness sessions & more to keep local residents active. It's not just about losing weight, physical activity reduces the risks of diabetes, heart disease, and strokes.
Visit the website to find out more: www.active-together.org/directory/active-charnwood
If you have any issues or concerns, we are here to help.
