Ward Councillor Update – January 2025

Wishing all residents a Happy and peaceful New Year

Do you live in a Housing Association property?
Rutland County Councillors have been concerned about the quality and timeliness of repairs and maintenance in Housing Association properties and have set up a panel to look at this issue. We would like to hear from you about your experience and hope you can help by completing a questionnaire which will be issued later this month. We will also be collecting evidence from Housing Associations operating in Rutland and will produce our report in May. There are just over 2,000 Housing Association properties in Rutland of which 70% are owned by Stronger2gether (formally Longhurst Group)

Local Government Reforms and Council Budget
The UK government has issued an initial policy statement about local authority funding for 2025-26 and significant reforms to local government and public services. A White paper on devolution and plans for combined and mayoral authorities is expected soon. Whilst the policy states that no local authority will see a reduction in their Core Spending Power in 2025-26 after taking account of any increase in council tax levels by applying a funding floor, we await further details before councillors debate the budget and set council tax rates in February. There is extreme pressure on our council finances already, and it is clear that there will be significant changes to local authorities and public services over the next few years. As your elected councillor, I am working with councillors of all political parties to try and make sure that Rutland residents get the best possible value from council services in the future.

Food waste
Weekly food collections will be introduced in Rutland by March 2026 due to statutory requirements enforced by government and the Council is now in the process of ordering the food caddies, kerbside bins and vehicles required.
Currently, 43% of what goes into black bins is food waste and a further 16% is materials that could be recycled in grey bins. We do need to reduce residual waste, and I encourage all residents to fully take part in the new food waste collections. Other councils across the country have already done this successfully by introducing a three-weekly black bin collection or by reducing the capacity size of their black bins and continuing with two-weekly collections. The decision on this will be made after February 2025 when we have more detail about government funding and any statutory guidance.

Winter Fuel Allowance
With the loss of the Winter fuel allowance, if you are a pensioner on a low income, please check whether you may be entitled to pension credit or any other help with your bills. Contact Citizens Advice Rutland 01572 723494 or Rutland County Council 01572 722577