Southwark Council is set to increase the cost of dying and sell off offices as part of a multimillion-pound savings drive over the next two years. The councils’ Labour cabinet waved through £10 million in proposed cuts and measures intended to generate extra income on Tuesday (December 3). The planned savings will go out for consultation before coming back before cabinet for final approval next year.
Charges for most council services, including burial, could rise by around five per cent next year under the plans. Interment of an average adult in the borough would cost £2,679 from 2025/26.
But residents would have to pay 30 per cent more for parking permits for visitors. Under the proposals, a first book of 10 one-day paper vouchers would cost £47 from next year, up from the current £36.10. An initial pack of 10 virtual vouchers would set residents back £43, compared to £32.80 at present.
Council documents justify the steep increase by saying the charges are ‘comparable’ to fees in neighbouring London boroughs, with ‘similar characteristics and demographics to Southwark.’
The council has a £12.3 million budget black hole to fill over the next couple of years and will have to draw on £2.5 million reserves to balance the budget in 2025/26.
Buildings set to be sold off by Southwark as part of savings measures include 47B East Dulwich Road and offices on Sumner Road in Peckham.
A report outlining the savings presented by Councillor Stephanie Cryan, cabinet member for finance, on Tuesday also noted the difficult position of Southwark’s housing revenue account (HRA), which registers costs and income related to the local authority’s over 53,000 council homes.
“Southwark’s HRA is now facing an in-year overspend of £9.5 million with reserves of just £16.9 million and immediate action is required to ensure the ongoing sustainability of the account,” the report reads.
A ‘recovery plan’ for the HRA adopted last year included plans to cut the service’s spend, get rid of vacant and ‘uneconomical’ properties and suspend the construction of some proposed new council homes.
The council is on track to make £13.9 million in savings from the HRA account this year and a further £13.3 million in savings are planned for 2025/26 which will be made through temporary short-term borrowing, a review of staffing structures and IT and procurement changes.
Rents for council properties are set to rise by 2.7 per cent next year. A tenant living in a two bed council flat would have to pay an extra £176.28 per year under the plans. Service charges are set to increase by £49.92 per year.
Cllr Cryan struck an upbeat tone at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, telling Labour colleagues that the savings were an offshoot of ‘transformation’. She said: “Transformation is something we want to do. [...] Transformation isn’t a savings driven exercise… savings are a by-product of transformations.
“There are lots of things that will be coming out through transformation like better procurement, looking at our assets and how we can better work those and our digital strategy can feed into that.”
Got a story? Email [email protected].
Don't miss out on the biggest local stories. Sign up to our MySouthLondon newsletter HERE for all the latest daily news and more.
