Bedfordshire

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Reserves totalling “an extraordinary” £116m have been exhausted by Central Bedfordshire Council in less than three years, the local authority’s budget full council meeting was told.

The budget responds to increasing demand for adult social care and rising costs in children’s services, and will provide new school places, care homes and additional road maintenance.

The Council recently launched a public consultation on a range of budget proposals designed to reduce costs by £32million which will help to pay for a huge increase in demand for older people’s residential care and rising costs of children’s services.

The budget gap is mostly addressed through proposals which improve efficiency or generate income. However, this was not enough, so the budget also includes increasing Council Tax by 5 per cent and a few changes to services.

Councillors voted against plans to close Dunstable Library two days a week, and to close Household Waste Recycling Centres two days a week.

Councillor Zerny, Leader of the Council said:

Over 2,000 people took part in the public consultation and your feedback was extremely helpful in setting a budget. We've had to make tough decisions, but this is a prudent budget which ensures we can continue to provide vital services for our residents.

Around 60 per cent of residents’ Council Tax is used to fund adult social care and children’s services, and the demand and cost in these areas is increasing. This is a national issue and while it is affecting us, it is the same everywhere.

Our focus has been on becoming more efficient and looking for ways to reduce costs without having a detrimental impact on services for residents, and that is reflected in the budget.

As part of this, the Council is reshaping the organisation to reduce costs by £10million. This means reducing non-essential spend and losing some staff, many of whom have been with the council for a long time. There is no pleasure in passing a budget which has such an effect on people's lives, but it is vital we run key services such as adult social care and children's services.

The vast majority of council services will continue unchanged, and we will also invest in new school places, transitioning schools to the two-tier system, providing more specialist school places for children with special educational needs, new care home facilities, leisure centres and maintaining our roads, including more money for cleaning roadside road drains to help alleviate flooding – something we know is important to residents.

The following service changes were removed from the draft budget saving proposals at the Council meeting:

• closing Dunstable library two days a week
• closing Household Waste Recycling Centres two days a week
• ceasing Ward Councillor Grants
• reviewing mental health employment support
• reducing funding for social care information and advice

Council also agreed to:

• add an additional £170,000 each year to the budget to allow a full annual cycle of gully cleaning
• an additional £30,000 for flooding information and outreach to residents

Council also decided to:

• revoke the decision to charge for replacement bins

Read more about the budget

The long-awaited report into the impact of Storm Henk on Central Bedfordshire in January 2024 has been published today (Friday).

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More than 35 areas reported flooding affecting property, land and roads, with 15 reports of properties being flooded.

As required under Section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, we, as Lead Local Flood Authority, must investigate significant flood events where multiple properties are affected. The report provides a high-level overview of the event, its causes, and key recommendations for improving flood resilience across the area. Read more about our flood investigations, including this report.

The report records and analyses the flood event, including rainfall, river levels, and community impact; identifies contributing factors such as ground saturation, surface water runoff, and drainage network performance; outlines recommendations for relevant organisations to reduce flood risk in future; supports engagement between partners and communities to improve preparedness and resilience.

This report focuses solely on Storm Henk and does not cover the separate significant flood event that occurred in September and October 2024. That event is being addressed through a dedicated Section 19 report, which will be published separately. Nor does it provide feedback from the recent Environment Agency sessions, including in Leighton Buzzard.

Since Storm Henk, we and our partners have already undertaken several works and interventions, including:

• highways drainage clearance and maintenance in key affected areas
• community engagement and flood resilience initiatives, including support for Community - Emergency Response Teams (CERTs)
• sewer inspections and network maintenance carried out by water companies
• watercourse maintenance by the Internal Drainage Board and Environment Agency
• multi-agency debriefs to identify lessons learned and improve emergency responses
• community engagement events in affected areas

We will continue working with partners to ensure flood risk management remains a priority. While this report provides a strategic overview, affected communities are encouraged to take proactive steps, such as signing up for flood alerts and considering property flood resilience measures. Read more flooding advice.

Leader of Central Bedfordshire Council, Councillor Adam Zerny, said:

Storm Henk caused widespread disruption, with heavy rainfall and already saturated ground leading to surface water and river flooding across multiple communities. This report provides an important record of what happened and sets out key actions for the future.

This is an important point at which to reflect upon the incredible work put in by volunteers, council officers and the emergency services, without which residents would certainly have experienced a far worse effect. We are working closely with all relevant agencies, including the Environment Agency, water companies, Internal Drainage Boards, and landowners, with whom we share a joint responsibility for flooding, to understand why these floods happened and what can be done to reduce the impact next time it happens.

To avoid unnecessary concerns about property blight, the report remains intentionally high-level, ensuring a balanced and responsible approach to flood risk reporting.

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