The Local Government Association (LGA) have reported that UK local authorities face a collective funding gap of £2.3bn for the 2025-26 financial year. East Sussex County Council is facing a funding gap of £55 million. As local authorities have a legal responsibility to set a balanced budget, this means making some difficult decisions about how the Council spends its money in future.

It’s important to say that East Sussex County Council will still have a net revenue budget of £538.1 million next year, but every department at the Council will need to find savings to close the funding gap. Some of the savings proposals were considered by the Council’s Cabinet in September and more savings proposals will be discussed at a future meeting.

There are 11 savings proposals for Adult Social Care and Health that the Council is currently running public consultations on: eastsussex.gov.uk/funding-gap-asch.

The consultations started on 3 October and close on 28 November 2024. Decisions are expected to be made about all of these proposals by councillors in February 2025. Continue reading →