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Budget Consultation 2022/23

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Consultation has concluded

This consultation was closed at 3PM on Friday 14th January 2022.

The Council is legally obliged to set a balanced revenue budget each year and we are now trying to set the budget for 2022/23.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has caused significant financial issues for this Council, compounding the funding challenges of the preceding years of austerity. We would very much appreciate your views to help inform the difficult decisions for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 budgets and would be very grateful if you would complete our online budget consultation survey. This relates only to the revenue budget and does not apply to any capital spend. We are keen to hear from as many residents as possible, as well as businesses and local interest groups.

Please complete the survey before Friday 14 January 2022.

We will store your data in line with the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's data protection policy.

Use of Council reserves

The COVID-19 pandemic, labour shortages and inflation increases have caused significant cost pressures for the Council, while parking income, leisure centre income and theatre ticket sales are still recovering. It is very difficult to predict how the economy will move into 2022/23, but we currently have a budget gap of £2 million, on net revenue costs of £14.7m. The 2021/22 budget provided for £3m of reserves to be used to balance the revenue budget, but government grants and one-off cost savings have enabled us to halve this. The Council therefore still has sufficient reserves to fund a budget shortfall of £2 million for 2022/23, but it does mean that investment in Council assets will no longer be possible. The alternative is to cut services, but at a time when residents still need help, the economy is unstable and the pandemic is still making consultation with residents more complex, we would like to know if you would support the use of reserves through 2022/23 to meet these budget pressures.

This consultation was closed at 3PM on Friday 14th January 2022.

The Council is legally obliged to set a balanced revenue budget each year and we are now trying to set the budget for 2022/23.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has caused significant financial issues for this Council, compounding the funding challenges of the preceding years of austerity. We would very much appreciate your views to help inform the difficult decisions for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 budgets and would be very grateful if you would complete our online budget consultation survey. This relates only to the revenue budget and does not apply to any capital spend. We are keen to hear from as many residents as possible, as well as businesses and local interest groups.

Please complete the survey before Friday 14 January 2022.

We will store your data in line with the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's data protection policy.

Use of Council reserves

The COVID-19 pandemic, labour shortages and inflation increases have caused significant cost pressures for the Council, while parking income, leisure centre income and theatre ticket sales are still recovering. It is very difficult to predict how the economy will move into 2022/23, but we currently have a budget gap of £2 million, on net revenue costs of £14.7m. The 2021/22 budget provided for £3m of reserves to be used to balance the revenue budget, but government grants and one-off cost savings have enabled us to halve this. The Council therefore still has sufficient reserves to fund a budget shortfall of £2 million for 2022/23, but it does mean that investment in Council assets will no longer be possible. The alternative is to cut services, but at a time when residents still need help, the economy is unstable and the pandemic is still making consultation with residents more complex, we would like to know if you would support the use of reserves through 2022/23 to meet these budget pressures.