Eastbourne Council Leader Says More Savings Inevitable After £3m Budget Cut

The Leader of Eastbourne Borough Council has warned that despite cutting over £3 million from the 2024/2025 budget, the need for ‘further significant savings are inevitable’.

Like many other local authorities, Eastbourne has seen significant increases in costs, particularly in the numbers of people presenting as homeless and in need of temporary accommodation. 

Last year, around 49p in every £1 collected in council tax by the council was spent on temporary accommodation. 

Councillor Stephen Holt, Leader of Eastbourne Borough Council, said:

“Homelessness is a social and financial crisis that I hope the new government will urgently address.  The impact on individuals and families is terrible and the financial impact on this council is unsustainable. We can’t keep taking £3 million out of the budget, and know that further significant savings are inevitable.

“It saddens me greatly that we now cannot avoid reductions in services due to these unprecedented pressures.”

At a meeting of Cabinet last week, councillors heard that good progress had been made in response to a review of the budget by the Chartered Institute of Finance and Public Accounting (CIPFA), but that more efficiencies, savings and assets sales were required.

Councillor Holt added:

“County, borough and district councils up and down the UK are going through the same process as we are. For example, East Sussex County Council is facing a gap in its finances of up to £55 million next year.  The years of under-funding for local public services have reached breaking point and we need an urgent conversation with the incoming government about putting it right.

“My promise to prioritise and protect our most vulnerable residents will never change, but this government must respond and support local authorities so that they can continue to provide services that residents deserve and need.”