• Council has to save £72m from its annual budget – £32m saved, £40m to go
• Savings are due to government cuts to grants and growing pressure on services

Sutton Council today launched a public campaign to encourage people to get involved in one of the largest transformations in the council’s history.

Unprecedented reductions in funding from central government, increased costs of living and growing demand for council services mean that the council has to save a total of £72m from its annual budget over eight years (2011 to 2019). Sutton’s Council’s current net annual budget is £152m (14/15).

These government cuts started for all local authorities in 2011 and since then Sutton Council has managed to save £32m without frontline services being affected. (See notes to editors)

It is not possible for this to continue so in order to save the remaining £40m, some services will have to change or stop in order to make the most of the money we have.

Over the past 18 months, the council has been successful in finding other ways to bring money into the borough including securing £6.5m in bids for public grants and £322m of planned private investment through Opportunity Sutton. This work will continue to support Sutton and our local economy.

We such a significant change, the council wants people to get involved in Sutton’s Future by visiting the website www.suttonsfuture.org, find out about the council’s budgets and the challenge facing us.

The website’s Have Your Say section contains a Sutton’s Future survey for residents to give their views, and details of events where people will have the chance to speak face to face with councillors.

Service specific surveys will also appear on the website as the council reviews individual service areas. Over the coming months and years, more of these specific surveys will come online and residents can sign up for a newsletter that will alert them to any new surveys.

Ruth Dombey, Leader of Sutton Council said:

“Severe reductions in government funding and rising demand for services are putting huge pressure on all local authorities. We have to save £72m from our annual budget and so far we have been able to save £32m without frontline services being affected.

“But there is only so much you can save without frontline services having to change. We now have to find £40m worth of savings in the next five years. That’s more than a quarter of our annual budget and the equivalent of a £616 rise to the average council tax bill.

“Clearly no one can afford that so there will be hard choices to be made. Just imagine the difficult decisions someone would have to make if their family’s budget was cut by almost a third.

“We believe that local people know what is best for their local area and we want people to get involved in Sutton’s Future to help us find the answers. We will ensure fairness and, if a service is to change further down the line, we will explain why, seek views and find alternatives.”

In addition to government funding cuts, the council is also facing increased pressures from young and vulnerable members of the community who need to be cared for.

For example, the number of children in care has increased by 25.3% since 2010, the number of children and young people is expected to increase by 16% by 2019 and the number of older people in Sutton is expected to grow by 20% by 2019.

As part of the council’s drive to save money, it has reduced the number of directly employed council staff by 490 full time posts since 2010. The workforce will continue to reduce as more savings are made.