Elmbridge Council's budget for this year shows spending is substantially exceeding income, under this coalition of seven Resident Association parties and the Liberal Democrats.
To pay it's way this year, the Council is having to take £1m from savings (reserves). A budget deficit of £5m is forecast by 2023/24. This is on gross annual spending of around £40m. While the costs of providing our services increase, we are seeing income reducing for a variety of reasons such as reductions in grants, falling car park income, lower returns for recycling materials, and smaller returns for demand-led services such as planning.
Cllr Ruth Mitchell, Deputy Leader of the Conservative group who speaks for the Opposition on financial policy. warns the situation is "clearly unsustainable". She adds, "the Borough’s Coalition Administration has not put forward any plans to tackle it. We cannot allow Elmbridge to be put into emergency measures like Northamptonshire County Council in 2018 because of financial mismanagement. Action must be taken urgently and a future Conservative Administration will make sure public services in Elmbridge are financially sustainable."