Dave Thomas: The council's budget proposals

We have come round to that time of year where we as a council set out our intentions for the next financial year.

Our budget consultation opened last week and if you haven’t seen it yet or taken part, I really do encourage you to take a look and let us know your thoughts.

Torbay Council currently delivers around £360 million worth of services to those who live and work in Torbay as well as to those who visit us throughout the year. Not everyone has experience of all these services but there continues to be a need for all of them.

Along with our populations living longer and cost of living pressures, the council is continuing to experience an increase in the demand for its services as well as an increase in the costs of providing them.

What can be forgotten sometimes is that the council is also like any businesses or organisation and we are also seeing our wage and utility costs continue to increase. Other areas also seeing costs continue to rise include our once in a lifetime regeneration schemes, with building materials and labour costs going up.

You can read more about our proposals on our website but as you can imagine, our children and adult social care budgets continue to dominate our attention and this budget provides, where necessary, increased resources to maintain our highly needed and acclaimed services.

As has been a regular drumbeat across the country over the past few years, councils are continuing to report financial difficulties and are having to reduce services. Thankfully, because of our thorough and careful financial management, we have a strong grasp on our finances and are in a secure financial position. We continue to be committed to delivering the best services that we can within our means.

Once again, there are no significant changes to the services we provide in this draft budget. The financial sustainability plans which we introduced last year are helping to make sure that our high-cost budget items remain on track and innovative solutions are explored and delivered so we provide the best outcomes we can.

To see all of our proposals please visit our website (www.torbay.gov.uk/ consultations) and take part, we really do value your feedback. The consultation is open until January 12 so there is plenty of time to take a look.

Recently, we also acknowledged White Ribbon Day and the start of 16 days of action against domestic abuse and sexual violence.

This is an international awareness campaign that as a council we have supported for many years. In fact, we were one of the first organisations in the South West to receive White Ribbon accreditation.

This year, I am pleased to support this initiative and along with our council chief executive, Anne-Marie Bond, and the managing director of SWISCo, Matt Reeks, we added our signatures to the Safety of Women at Night (SWAN) charter.

This is a pledge signed by more than 120 businesses across the Bay to keep women safe in their premises. The reason we signed it is that we want to provide reassurance to our staff that their safety is our top priority.

Like many other businesses, the council works hard to protect those who work for the organisation – particularly those working in the evenings. We do this through our lone working policy as well as providing personal alarms. We also have wellbeing and domestic abuse champions.

A number of events are taking place across Torbay as part of the 16 Days of Action campaign. These range from library drop-ins, art therapy and creative writing sessions, webinars, a silent march through Torquay, disco bingo, a bus tour and equine therapy.

For the full list of events, visit the Are you OK? website, which also has contacts if you or someone who know is experiencing domestic abuse or sexual violence.