Draft proposals for the 2024/25 Budget have been revealed by the Alliance administration, with £2.75million of savings being sought and a 4.99% Council Tax hike planned. There are no shock plans in this year’s budget. In fact, a pleasant surprise for Islanders is that the Council is freezing existing resident car park charges and parking permits for the year ahead, scrapping its planned 10p increase. However, Islanders look set to be hit in the pocket when it comes to getting married or arranging a cremation as charges will rise by 6%, in line with inflation. There will also be an increase to bulky waste collection fees, and a new £4 service fee for the Council’s Collection Plus service. Cuts proposed by the local authority include the reduction of opening hours for the Council’s contact centre; an hour looks set to be taken off the start and end of the day. Saturday opening could also be lost. Despite the extra £4million awarded to the Isle of Wight by central Government, as exclusively reported by Island Echo, an increase in council tax of 4.99% – 2.99% for general purposes and 2% for adult social care – is planned. The local authority will be asking the average Band D taxpayer to pay £1,908.39 a year towards services, an increase of £90 year-on-year. On top of this will be all the precept rises for town or parish councils, the fire service and the Police. Even with the massive cuts and increased Council Tax bills for Island households, the Council will still enter 2024/25 in a ‘structural deficit’ and will need to draw £1.2million from reserves. This takes them ever-closer to the minimum reserve level, at which point the Government would step in. 
At the heart of the Council’s 2024/25 spending plans is an extra £11million to meet the rising demand for children’s and adult’s social care services, and a targeted £1.9million investment to help address the Island’s desperate need for affordable housing. Significant capital investment of £9.3million is planned for the Island including £2.1million for schools’ capital maintenance and £400,000 for highway drainage schemes to reduce flooding. Money is also being set aside of Osborne Steps in Shanklin, repairing footpaths and other rights of way across the Island and grants to help Islanders with disabilities to remain in their homes. Council leader, Phil Jordan, has said:
“Our financial situation continues to be challenging and difficult. Our approach for the council’s spending plans remains to reverse the annual cycle of cuts that the structural financial deficit commands and instead, reinvest in the services the community would like to see. “However, the absence of funding keeping pace with inflation and pressures in social care has made that impossible. In fact, over the past 13 years the council has had to find savings of £97 million. “In appreciating the ongoing financial hardship faced by many, we are working in a prudent, responsible manner to correct the ongoing structural deficit that has been impacting the council’s finances. Our budget is a positive budget which looks to invest in our community services while protecting residents as best we are able from financial hardship. “Freezing the costs of car parking in our towns and villages is good for businesses and for shoppers. Many councils across the country have had no option but to increase these charges. “There has never been a time where there has been more pressure on local government finances but we are an ambitious and responsible council taking on the challenge and finding new ways of working for the benefit of local residents and businesses while maintaining our key services.”
The budget will be considered by the council’s Cabinet on Thursday 15th February and by Full Council on Wednesday 28th February.
Why don’t they just take everything we all own? This is getting absolutely ridiculous now, people just cannot keep on paying out whether it be renting or owning? Might just buy a camper van live here pay no bills whatsoever.
Klaus Schwab – “you’ll own nothing and be happy”
That’s just 1% more than inflation. And all that after all the COVID years of raises __far below__ inflation. On an island with even older demographic than the rest of UK that requires more and more care.
There’s no secret plan from illuminati, folks. That’s literally just adjusting for inflation and aging population.
Adult social.care, children’s care and education are the biggest spend on council tax.
Bobby McFerrin – “Don’t worry, be happy”
At the heart of the Council’s 2024/25 spending plans is an extra £11million to meet the rising demand for children’s and adult’s social care services
..
How about you let the freeloading parasites fend for theirselves and the parents pay for the feckless, feral slobs they call their offspring, instead of the rest of us being expected to subsidise their bone idleness.
Dare to say the same about social care for older adults? 😉
Correct, anyone who stands on their own two feet gets slaughtered.
Peasants who claim off the state should have their handouts stopped with immediate affect. Then the decent people who are clearly in a minority can prosper.
The Robin B’stards are at it again.
My advice reduce Council Tax and charge permit parking
much fairer for everyone.
Some households clog up the streets with numerous vehicles and
pay fcuk all to leave them there.
I hate all taxes, but I despise UNFAIR Council tax
Just let the council go bust already. I’ve an idea how they can save money, stop paying employees (and bosses) so much money! Make redundancies, and move out of county hall – it’s too big and must cost a fortune to heat, run and maintain.
And still Jerk Jordans gravy train rolls on. So they get loads more cash and still say “we have no money” £400,000 for drainage works, maybe if they had done it on a regular basis, and didn’t leave them to clog up, there would not of been so many flood. This council are a bloody joke, and not a very funny one either. Never mind I expect the drinks cabinet will get refilled now and they will be paying for more special taxis for kids and to keep the druggies off the streets by jumping to the top of the housing list. Get rid of this lot for christ sake.
Probably they need the money for Jordan and his Merry Mens
Expense claims
Alcohol prices have gone through the roof recently.
160m in deb
ambitious and responsible council
please explain how you think you are a ambitious and responsible council
And we are supposed to be grateful that they have frozen car parking charges?????
They’ve already hiked them up not long ago !!!!!!!
May as well squeeze us cash cow’s for more Council tax, and blame the problem for the deficit on previous councillors, oh hang on the majority of you freeloaders were the previous councillors…….
The saying is a leopard never changes it’s spots, and just as true re you lot !!!!!!
Alliance lol ……
Conservative (con )
Labour ?????
Green’s ……
Freezing car parking costs?
newport parish are scrapping the one hour free scheme,so how does this help businesses exactly?
twats!
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t
Some girls need a lot of loving and some girls don’t …
Can someone please tell me what happened to the 6.2 million £ the MoJ gave to the council for the upgrade and maintenance of the roads on the prison estates?
Time to act and stop this daylight robery. As council tax payers we are hit with an absorbant rise every year but our income does not go up enough to cover these rises as a result we are made progressively poorer.
So it’s time the councillors take the hit, reduce the expenses they claim which are unrealistically high by 10% and reduce the number of councillors by at least 10% and give us council tax payers a break for once.