Finance Peer Review report

Hastings Borough Council's Cabinet is due to discuss the Local Government Association's (LGA) Finance Peer Review report at its meeting on Monday 7 August.

The council invited the LGA to carry out the finance review earlier in the year to focus on housing and the impact of increasing costs of temporary accommodation.

The review focused on five themes: financial leadership; financial strategy, planning and forecasting; decision-making; financial outcomes; and partnership and innovation. The peer review team spoke to councillors and council officers across the council to put together the report. The final report made 13 recommendations which the council has accepted.

The council has now set out its response to the recommendations in the report, and work has already started on these. This includes looking to sell assets where appropriate, recruiting more housing staff and ensuring that all staff and councillors are focussed on the financial situation.

Cllr Paul Barnett, leader of the council, said: "When I became Council Leader in 2022, I immediately ramped up our work to respond to both national and local financial pressures. This led directly to us setting a much tougher budget in February as the cost of tackling homelessness had substantially increased by then. So I want to thank the LGA for coming and doing this review in March, and for their recommendations all of which we are taking on board. We have listed nearly 100 actions already taken or planned in response in this report, and I welcome all partners across the town who wish to work with us to resolve this crisis that is impacting so many residents.

"The financial difficulties that we are facing are a result of a national housing crisis. The system is broken, and as a result is forcing many of our residents out of secure accommodation into temporary housing provided by the council. Our housing register has more than 1,500 households waiting for a new home, and there are more than 500 households (more than 1,000 people) living in emergency temporary accommodation. The ever-increasing costs of temporary accommodation means that to provide housing for everyone we have a duty to house has increased from £730,000 in 2019 to £4.5 million for 2022/23 - a rise of more than 400% - and it is predicted to rise to £5.6 million for 2023/24.  And yet without the cost of temporary accommodation and housing, the council's budget for 2022/23 shows an underspend of £1 million.

"Because of the huge increases in housing costs, there are going to be difficult decisions that have to be made across the whole council as we continue to try to balance our budget."

You can read the full LGA report, recommendations, and the council's response. You can watch the Cabinet meeting from 6pm on Monday 7 August online.

Notes for editors:

Budget levels: In 2010/11 the council's net budget was £22.9m. By 2022/23 this had fallen by 28% to £16.5m. During this period direct government support (grants) has reduced from £15.9m in 2010/11 to £1.5m in 2022/23, a reduction of over 90%.

Staffing levels: In 2010 the council employed 442 full time equivalent (FTE) staff. That figure is now much lower at 284 FTE. (NB This figure also includes the 34 new staff employed after bringing street and building cleansing services back in house). For direct comparison purposes we now employ 192 less FTE staff than we did in 2010.