By Cllr Greg Peck

After the period of purdah caused by the general election, which was then followed by a long Christmas and New Year break, activity at County Hall has ramped up quickly.

The last three years of uncertainty caused by a hung parliament and the endless arguments and indecision caused by the debates and disagreements over Brexit is thankfully over. It is hoped the government will now be able to focus on other, pressing issues.

Everyone in local government is also hoping this will lead to the long-awaited green paper on adult social care being published; it has already been delayed for more than a year.

We are actually spending more than ever on adult social services but, with an increasingly ageing population in Norfolk, the pressures continue to mount.

Although Norfolk County Council has welcomed the £17.6 million share of the government’s additional £1 billion for social care, which is intended for both children’s and adults’ services, it will not fully meet the needs of either; increased pressures on adult social services are £34.6 million for this year alone.

The recent government decision to raise the national living wage increases the council’s care market costs, which means an extra £1million will have to be found to cover this next year. Every penny added to the national living wage hourly rate adds £200,000 to the council’s care market costs.

We are now in the process of finalising our budget, but you can see that delivering a balanced budget, which we have statutory duty to do, is no easy task.

We will have some difficult decisions to make and we will need to take a balanced approach to meet all our residents’ needs within the finite resources we have.

Of course, the county council, the leader and cabinet members are pressing the new government to increase funding of local government in general and Norfolk County Council in particular.

Cllr Greg Peck, Norfolk County Council, Reepham Division
Tel: 07972 230282
Email: greg.peck.cllr@norfolk.gov.uk