Column: We still have work to do but budget demonstrates progress and responsibility

The challenge is how do we show our residents, through our actions, that we are delivering on these pledges so that they see improvements in their lives?

The starting point for achieving our promises is having a sound financial plan because you need money to invest to make improvements.

This is never a simple task, and local government finances remain in a fragile state after 14 years of neglect.

We have all seen the headlines - one in five councils across the country are warning they may face bankruptcy in the next two years. But here in Mansfield, we have taken proactive steps to reduce our exposure to long-term risk.

When we began setting last year’s budget, the projected deficit over three years stood at £5.4m. At the height of the cost-of-living crisis, we froze Council Tax when residents needed urgent relief because it was the right thing to do at that time, but that is not a sustainable position.

Through strong financial oversight and a focus on reducing our long-term deficit, we have halved that gap by:

Carefully managing vacancies and staffing costs to avoid unnecessary redundancies.

Finding efficiencies that protect core services without impacting frontline support.

Making smart, sustainable choices that reduce our exposure to financial shocks in future years.

We still have work to do, but this budget demonstrates progress and responsibility—not short-term fixes.

Across the country, we have a broken housing market; there are thousands of homeless people. This problem has occurred because for decades there has been under investment in affordable council homes, with a bias from the government towards private rented accommodation.

This has led to rents being unaffordable for many and led to an unprecedented number of people becoming homeless.

In Mansfield, we currently have 4,600 on the housing waiting list, with 173 being in Band One, the highest priority. To try to improve this situation, the council is taking part in an innovative scheme to reduce homelessness.

Mansfield has been awarded a £188,000 Homelessness and Prevention grant to help alleviate some of the pressures. The scheme will support people registered with the council as homeless and living in temporary accommodation by funding rental deposits and the first advanced rent payment to private landlords.

The Private Rented Access Scheme will enable us to work with landlords and create successful, long-term tenancies and reduce the cost of putting people in temporary accommodation such as hotels and bedsits.

This administration will always look to take whatever funding that we can get from central government to help the small businesses that are finding their way and the most vulnerable in our society.

That is why I am so happy that we have been able to share over £131,000 to 15 community champions in our charitable sector with awards up to £15,000 to ensure they can continue to deliver vital support to our residents.

The charities cover the broad spectrum across our district, including Ladybrook Enterprises, Community Transport, Family Action, Friends of Bellamy, Children’s Bereavement and Maun Refuge, to name a few.

Our support for local businesses has led to Mansfield being named as the best place in England for supporting hospitality and the night time economy and the eighth best place to start up a business.

We feel justifiably proud that we continue to ‘punch above our weight’ and deliver our pledges for our residents.