South Holland District Council vows to push Government for ‘sustainable’ funding for drainage boards as tax bills rise

Council tax bills are due to rise in April but leaders say they will keep fighting for a ‘sustainable’ way to fund drainage boards to avoid the burden falling on taxpayers and to protect our services.

South Holland District Council’s cabinet has agreed to increase its share of the council tax bill by 3.09% – but leader Coun Nick Worth has warned that that the £268,000 extra income that this brings will be ‘wiped out’ by the costs of the internal drainage boards.

Heavy rain brought by Storms Babet and Henk has resulted in more water – some of which has travelled down from other areas – for our drainage boards to pump away to prevent flat South Holland from flooding.

But with this extra work comes rising power costs – which are currently funded by people in South Holland with a levy on their bills. For every £10 of council tax, the council receives 96p for services – and 53p of that goes to the drainage boards.

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Speaking at Wednesday’s council meeting in Spalding, opposition leader Coun Rob Gibson said: “We have a choice to provide for our residents or keep our feet dry – that shouldn’t be a choice. Central government need to wake up and put the money where it should be.”

The council is looking to increase its share of council tax by £6.03 per year for band D properties – and there are 434 more of these homes this year.

Officials were told in December that the council is due to receive a total of £1,923,000 in its latest settlement from Government – this is £1,000 less than last year.

Council budgets are facing pressure from an assumed 3.5% increased pay award for staff – along with pension contributions – but there are also rising costs for electricity, gas and vehicle fuel to take into account.

Increased homelessness is also an additional financial problem for the council along with ‘external audit fees and the PSPS contract increase’. The latter is a company owned by the council and its partners in East Lindsey and Boston Borough Council to provide support services.

Council leader Coun Worth said the government settlement had ‘flatlined’ and that work is ongoing to lobby ministers for a different funding mechanism for drainage boards.

He told the meeting: “There will be a lot of pressure on ministers to try to resolve this for us. I wouldn’t like to bet which way it will go.

“Our council tax is wiped out by the levy so it is really important that we keep the pressure on them.

“It has not been an easy year, councils across the country are struggling with having to meet large funding gaps. We are not alone in trying to fund large gaps but we are rising to the challenge.

“We are in a healthier position moving forwards.”

A report to the cabinet meeting stated that the ‘levy can no longer be afforded having a significant impact, every year that passes, on the ability of the council to finance the services it is providing’.

Finance portfolio holder Paul Redgate, who is the chairman of a special interest group on drainage board funding, said that 28 councils were pushing the government hard – but are also lobbiying Labour as the ‘potential changing government’.

He said: “Pressure is being constantly applied and we are hoping to get a resolution that benefits not just the residents of South Holland but also in the country that are affected by this.”

Coun Redgate praised the work of the drainage boards – particularly after the recent flooding – and added: “Without them, just imagine the devastation that could be caused.

“We need to find a sustainable resolution to deal with the funding mechanism.”

MP Sir John Hayes will be hosting an event with former Prime Minister and DEFRA secretary Liz Truss to help lobby current ministers of the department to agree to fund drainage boards.

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