"We need to make some hard choices - Chesterfield Borough Council deputy leader Amanda Serjeant spells out the financial pressures facing the local authority - and the impact that is having on what the council will be able to do.
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00:00 Like so many local authorities across the country, this Council is facing extreme pressures on its budgets due to a variety of factors outside of our control.
00:09 Not only are we feeling the impact of exceptionally high inflation rates, but the cost of living crisis means that people need our services now more than ever.
00:18 But the income we receive from things like our venues is falling, and we're still bearing the long-term financial impacts of the pandemic.
00:27 This is compounded by piecemeal government underfunding of the public sector, which has seen the amount of money that we receive from government more than half since 2010 in real terms.
00:40 So whilst this isn't the financial crisis of our making, we must respond to it nonetheless, and do so in a responsible and sustainable way.
00:50 There's still much uncertainty, but some things are clear. Councils can't do what they've always done.
00:57 We've already made significant savings over the last 18 months, but much more is needed to address budget gaps that stretch into the millions.
01:07 Some services will need to stop or be delivered by other agencies. Many will have to be delivered differently.
01:15 This means some difficult choices and really hard decisions about where under pressure council budgets need to be spent in the future.
01:25 The council's cabinet is due to consider some of those difficult choices, and a series of savings proposals have been put forward to help bridge this gap.
01:35 From potentially introducing new charges for some of our services, such as green waste collection, to reviewing the future of some of our buildings, to thinking about the funding we provide to some external bodies.
01:49 We need to make some hard choices.
01:52 Many of these proposals will need further development, as well as conversations with our communities, before any final decision can be made.
02:03 We will continue to be open and honest about the things that may need to change.
02:10 And there will be different opportunities for you to give us your views and help shape the future of our services.
02:18 But at the heart of all of these difficult choices will be our commitment to continue to put our communities first, doing all we can to protect the essential services that local people rely on.
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