Rutland County Council leader on bus services, government grants and budgeting
At the end of March, Rutland launched a new on-demand bus service, writes Rutland County Council leader Gale Waller (Lib Dem).
The pilot for this is operating between Oakham and Melton, with a number of villages between the towns now able to catch a bus where previously no service was available. It is proving to be a popular service with residents and we will use the learning from this pilot to shape our rollout to the rest of Rutland, due in August.
Many councils are reducing subsidies to bus companies which, in turn, mean services are cut. Rutland County Council’s decision to invest in an on-demand service means more residents will be able to use public transport as all villages will eventually be in scope of the scheme. Extending bus service coverage should also lead to a reduction in carbon emissions as residents will be less reliant on private transport to get about. Please use the service now, if you live within its current scope. If you don’t, please use it when it becomes county-wide in August. Full details can be found on our new Rutland Buses website: www.rutlandbuses.info.
Rutland County Council has set its budget for 2025/26. Normally, at this time, officers and cabinet members would begin the process of planning a budget for 2026/27. To plan a budget, we would pose ourselves a series of questions: What impact will inflation have? What contracts need reletting and what price are they likely to be? What community infrastructure levy receipts is the council likely to have to fund new infrastructure projects and services? Answering these, and similar questions, is part and parcel of setting a budget in local authorities but for this coming year the process will be far from “normal” or straightforward.
In June 2025, councils across the country are expecting Government to announce a financial settlement for local government. This will tell us what grant Government is going to allocate to councils for 2026 and beyond. For rural areas such as Rutland, and South Kesteven for that matter, we are expecting a reduced level of Government funding as money is directed to urban areas where deprivation is easier to measure. This happened at the end of last year when Government announced the removal of the rural services delivery grant.
Reduction in Government grant, in turn, puts more pressure on council tax levels in rural areas. Bins have to be emptied and waste disposed of regardless of where you live, the needs of vulnerable children and adults must be met and roads have to be repaired – and there are more miles of road per person in rural areas! In the months to come there is likely to be a great deal of debate on the topic of reducing services or increasing council tax; it is not an easy time to be working in local government and some hard decisions will have to be made, regardless of political colour of the council.
Working on the budget for 2026/27 will not be the only topic occupying the minds, and time, of councillors and officers over the summer. In early May we are expecting Government to give feedback to councils on the initial local government reorganisation proposals that were submitted by local councils at the end of March. The county and district councils in Lincolnshire have submitted 12 proposals, although there is some overlap between these. The local authorities covering Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland have submitted three.
After we have received Government feedback Rutland County Council will begin an engagement exercise with residents and stakeholders to determine which proposal, or proposals, we will support for the final submission in November. We want to know what is important to you. Do look out for more information about this and get involved. And, if you are not signed up already, register for our e-newsletter: www.rutland.gov.uk/devolution.
