Tandridge Council

Published: 14 October 2024

TDC has made savings of £6m over the last four years and is now on a stable financial footing. However, it faces significant financial challenges over the next four years, along with all local government.

You may already know that Tandridge is very keen to talk to all parish councils about the community facilities provided across the district and how these are used and valued by local communities. We want to understand what we collectively provide in each parish, for example toilets, playgrounds, pavilions and halls. Some of these conversations have already started.

TDC faces significant financial challenges over the next four years, along with all local government (more on this below). Working with parish councils will be crucial to ensure that limited funding is used most effectively. This may involve difficult decisions about the future of community facilities, but we want to make sure we are taking those in consultation with you and working with you to limit the impact on residents and we value your input and knowledge of local facilities.

TDC’s financial context

The council faces a financial challenge of £4m (30%) over the next four years:

• Against a £13m budget, a savings target of £1m per year, every year, will be needed to balance the Medium-Term Financial Strategy.
• If no savings were made, funding would fall short of requirements by £1m in 2025/26, £2m in 2026/27 and so on, with a gap of £4m per year after four years.
• The Council is legally required to set a balanced budget, and so savings are inevitable. The Council cannot rely on reserves or one-off funding to meet this challenge.
• If no action was taken, the Council’s General Fund would be exhausted by the end of 2026/27.

We are also aware that you will already be considering next year’s precept, so I want to take the opportunity to set out the planned dates for precept communications.

Precept dates:

Planned key dates for the precept are:

• TDC Strategy & Resources Committee approves district taxbase: 28th November 2024
• Taxbase letters issued to Parishes: Friday 13th December 2024
• Deadline for Parish notification of precept: Thursday 16th January 2025

We want to start these conversations with you as soon as possible, so will be getting in touch with you to agree a date for an initial meeting.

In addition to the meetings planned with individual councils, our Communities Team have already arranged a Parish Assembly on the 24th of October to launch a forum for collaborative working and sharing ideas. We are hoping to arrange ongoing bi-annual meetings to help us work closer together on initiatives and address key challenges.

David Ford Chief Executive Tandridge District Council