It was described by Kent County Council Leader Paul Carter at today’s meeting as “without a shadow of a doubt the most difficult it has ever had to face”.
The council’s most significant pressures include an extra £31 million to cover additional demand and increased costs for adult social care.
A further £12 million is needed to meet the additional demand for services such as waste disposal and special education needs transport.
KCC also has additional costs of £13 million as a result of changes in government legislation, such as increases in employer’s National Insurance contributions and the impact of the National Living Wage.
Members agreed to a 1.99% increase in council tax.
This will see the KCC element of the charge on a Band C property go from £966.88 to £988.24 and bring in an additional £11m towards spending demands across all council services.
Members also agreed a further 2% National Social Care Levy increase in council tax, which will be used specifically for demand and cost pressures within adult social care.
This will increase the band C rate to £1,007.60 and raise a further £11 million specifically to meet the pressures on social care budgets.
Kent County Council 11 February 2016
Read KCC’s full press release: https://kccmediahub.net/kent-county-council-approves-201617-budget745