Almost £118M is committed to projects for the benefit of South Somerset’s future as a balanced budge
Released On 1st Mar 2022
A balanced budget which commits to almost £118M of Capital investment through to 2004 in South Somerset is being delivered.
Councillors also unanimously agreed at a Full Council meeting on Monday evening (28 February) that the district council's precept for Council Tax bills will rise by £5 per household per year (for a typical Band D property) in 2022/2023 ( a 2.8% increase).
Cllr Peter Seib, Portfolio Holder for Finance and the council’s Deputy Leader, said: “In this, our last budget as a sovereign Council, we are delighted to be able to deliver a budget that will really make a difference for residents. “The overall financial environment for local government over the last few years has been very challenging through increased demand for services, the impacts of reduced grant funding from central government, and, more recently, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Nationally, a number of councils have been under extreme financial stress but South Somerset District Council is not in this position. It has purposefully and prudently built-up its reserve balances while funding commercial investments to bring in additional income that helps to finance those highly valued services it provides to residents.
“I’m delighted that we have been able to commit to important investments for South Somerset’s future, to provide for maintaining services during local government reorganisation and yet we have still been able to limit our Council Tax increase to just 2.8%. This increase is well below inflation and the Council recognises the need to do all it can to help residents during the current cost-of-living crisis.”
What projects are being funded by South Somerset District Council?
A wide range of projects were committed to in 2021/22 including funding regeneration schemes in Chard (including the creation of a new leisure centre), Wincanton, Yeovil; providing £841,000 of disabled facility and home repair grants; £257,000 for improvements at Yeovil Recreation Centre, £319,000 on affordable housing projects and more.
Funding committed in 2022/23 will go to projects including a digital upgrade of CCTV in Yeovil town centre; rolling out more EV charging points across the district; refurbishing Yeovil Crematorium; funding improvements at recreation areas in Langport, Milborne Port and improving skate parks in Area South; and much more. You can see the full Capital programme here.
What new spending is included in the Capital programme?
The new projects for capital investment includes:
- Ham Hill (£1.624m): This is a project to improve the country park infrastructure and facilities. The site is currently on Historic England’s ‘At Risk’ register. Total expenditure is estimated to be £1.6m with £1.3m funded by National Lottery heritage grant.
- Huish Park (£2.8m): Our District Executive at its meeting in December 2020 agreed to purchase the land at Huish Park in Yeovil, including the land occupied by the Yeovil Town Football Club, in order to secure the public amenity provided by the site and the owner of the land is ready to proceed with the sale.
- Capital works on commercial property (£1.648m): A number of works maybe necessary on our existing commercial property portfolio (investments made purely for yield). Other work is pre-planned improvement to the property to ensure we continue to generate the best possible income for taxpayers from these assets
- Corporate Capital Contingency Budget (£4m): The Chief Finance Officer has proposed that a capital contingency of £4m is included in the capital budget to fund the risk of some budgets needing to be increased due to the exceptional high inflation currently being experienced in construction.
It also includes additional allowances to support the Yeovil Refresh and Wincanton Regeneration schemes alongside planned improvements at the Octagon Theatre. You can see further news about these projects on our website. The overall budget was approved by a 33 votes to 1 (six councillors abstained) and the Council Tax setting motion was approved unanimously.
