I had a very interesting meeting this afternoon with the County Council’s head of finance.  What a tough job he has!

Amongst other things, I learned that the £100m the County Council needs to save is not ‘in total during 2018-22’, but per year by 2022. This means in total £175m less will be spent on services during this period while the Conservatives are in control of the Council.

This might seem like a slight of hand – but it’s massive if you’re at the receiving end of services on which you rely.

I’m also shocked (but not surprised) at how the savings have been front-loaded so as to avoid there being any new savings in the next election year. The effect of forcing these savings through earlier rather than later again has a big impact on the total reduction in what is being spent on services. If the savings were distributed more evenly across the four years the total reduction in spending in the period would be £156m, not £175m.

Will people in divisions that are represented by the Conservatives, in whose interests these things are being done, remember this when they come to the ballot box in 2022 I wonder…?

It’s not just the Conservatives causing financial woes either – Norwich City Council is the 20th worst in the country at collecting council tax (on which the County Council relies).

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