Rother District Councillor Report for Parish Assembly 2013/14
· The funding climate for LG remains extremely challenging. For Rother, government grant has been reduced by around £750,000 in 2014/15 and will be cut by a further £610,000 in 2015/16. This means that Rother’s funding from central government has been reduced by some 60% from the level it was in 2010. In money terms that means £3 million less for services in the district.
· To meet this challenge we have looked at our assets and how we use them, and we continue to use new technology to help us work more efficiently.
· We are continuing with the programme of devolving assets and services to Parishes or interested local groups, and the past year has seen the Rye Allotments devolved to a Community Interest Company and Catsfield Village Hall car park devolved to the PC, and Robertsbridge is taking on their car park and lavatories. Work continues with those Parishes that have expressed an interest, and we will look at alternative uses where devolution is not a possibility. But Parishes are urged to take on services wherever they can.
· Rother continues to have the lowest Council Tax in East Sussex and this was frozen again this year. We have one of the lowest staffing levels of any authority in the country, and we deliver over 60 services.
· The Council has recently completed another redundancy programme with around 30 posts deleted. This is in addition to the 30 posts lost in the previous round. (approximately two years ago).
· Rother has continued to use its reserves to manage the reduction in funding, but this situation is not sustainable.
· The combined effect of reduced funding, reduced staffing and reducing reserves will therefore mean that there will be an impact on services. This may be through changing the way they are delivered and who delivers them, or by reductions in service. Councillors will be preparing a new Corporate Plan over the next few months and face some very difficult choices.
· Work has continued over the past year with the rollout of the Joint Waste Contract (with Hastings, Eastbourne and Wealden Councils), by Kier Services Ltd. On 30 June 2014 we will introduce an enhanced recycling service with more materials being collected from the kerbside, including glass collection. This change in service and working in partnership has helped Rother avoid additional costs and make savings in the longer term. Furthermore, the new garden waste chargeable service has been taken up by 34% of households.
· Despite the financial climate, Rother continues to run its Community Grant Scheme which gives funding to community projects and good causes. Catsfield benefited with a grant for the children’s play area, and Crowhurst Parochial Church Council benefited in order to increase community use of St George’s Church.
· We remain a key player in the regeneration of the district and have supported East Sussex County Council over the Link Road. 27% of work has been completed. The site has been cleared and fenced, and a haul road constructed. Environmental work has been carried out with extensive archaeological surveys; there is progress on road building at the London Road end in Bexhill, and at Upper Wilting. This will have wider economic benefits for the district, as the road will provide an estimated 1,500 new homes and 50,000 sq m of business space. Furthermore, the ‘Gateway Road’ recently gained planning permission, along with outline planning for the business spaces, thus bringing the actual realisation of the jobs and homes one step closer. There are funding programmes to support businesses relocating, expanding or setting up. The opening remains on track for May 2015.
· I have been a member of the Combe Valley Countryside Park Management Board since 2008. 2013 has seen the transformation of the park management to a Community Interest Company, working with the charities Groundwork South and Sussex Wildlife Trust. Some members of the previous Management Board will continue on the CIC Board including the Crowhurst PC representative, and the Friends of CVCP will be set up mainly by the Crowhurst Society. There will be Patrons and there will be a large Park Forum to include all stakeholders. This has all come about due to the withdrawal of funds by the 3 councils, and Hastings, as the major landowner, will be leading the new project. There are some funds available from Southern Water and potentially from Biffa, but the Park is now taking a wholly new direction.
· I have been the Rother representative on the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee since 2008. HOSC has been working with ESHT for the past 2 years to devise a new clinical strategy for emergency medicine, surgery and orthopaedics. HOSC has been working with Sussex Mental Health Trust on the Dementia service in ES. “Better Beginnings” is a strategy out to public consultation recently to decide between 6 options for delivering better and safer maternity and paediatric care. This includes one consultant led unit, an alongside Midwife led unit, and/or a MLU either at the alternative hospital, or at Crowborough. There is huge support for the Crowborough Birthing Unit. This consultation has the potential to upgrade and modernise and make safer services for women and children in ES.
· Despite the financial climate, our services continue to perform strongly:
o We’ve had a 10% rise in all types of applications for Planning Permission. That includes a 54% increase in the number of major development applications compared to 2012/13. This is good news for the local construction industry and the economy of the district. Between April and December 2013 60% of major developments received a decision in 13 weeks, which is average for English local authorities.
o The average householder planning application gets a decision in 59 days and 85% are decided within 8 weeks (56 days) (December 2013). This performance is better than the national average and an improvement on our performance last year.
o Our Planning team added a new, paid-for, pre-application advice service. The benefits for both applicants and the Council include professional advice and guidance resulting in better quality, better finished applications.
o 66 new affordable homes have been built in 2013, including 8 in Sedlescombe and 8 in Staplecross.
o Our website www.rother.gov.uk has been available 99.99% of the time and has recently been updated.
Angharad Davies
Rother District Councillor Crowhurst Ward