16 March 2024
Rich Lehmann
I'm acutely aware that in the last couple of pieces I've written I've mainly been talking rubbish (and recycling, and food waste), so I'll change the record this month. The new waste collection contract will commence on Monday 25th March, and because of the widespread changes to collection days across the borough, there will likely be a lot of disruption and confusion in the first month or two, but hopefully the new dates will 'bed in' quickly.
Budgets
Kent County Council and Swale Borough Council have both now set their budgets for 2024/25. The current, widely publicised, financial pressures that councils up and down the country are facing have forced both councils into making difficult decisions relating to the cutting of services, and the increasing of charges for some of the services they provide.
It was an interesting experience for me. I've now spent three years as an opposition councillor at KCC attacking and trying to reverse or prevent cuts made in their budget; but now as an administration councillor at Swale, I'm on the other side of the coin, having to decide (along with other administration councillors) which areas to make cuts in, and then having to defend those decisions. Neither role is easy, or pleasant, and I find the whole process pretty exhausting.
One small silver lining that came out of the KCC budget was that the Faversham Household Waste Recycling Centre, which was threatened with closure in 2023, has been given a stay of execution for the coming year. However tips are still earmarked as a potential area in which the council might look to make cuts in 2025, along with libraries, school maintenance, the Kent Travel Saver (which would cost many families around £1000 without the KCC Subsidy), and “other community services”.
Swale have also made some tough decisions whilst attempting to balance their books. Although here it's often more a case of increased charges (such as those for car parking) which appear to be the cause of the greatest concern.
To add insult to injury for residents, the continued reductions in funding from central government mean that both councils are effectively forced to raise their council tax rates by the maximum allowed amount (4.99% for KCC and 2.99% for Swale) just to avoid having to make those cuts even deeper.
I sincerely hope that changes are made in the coming years which mean that local government is given more funding to provide the services that our communities desperately need.
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Promoted by T. Valentine on behalf of R.Lehmann (Swale Green Party) c/o PO Box 78066, London, SE16 9GQ
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