CONCERN was voiced at Waverley’s ‘watchdog’ overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday night that the borough council was “not doing anything” about its projected £3.8m shortfall by 2023 in its 2019/20 budget.

Committee members were given the first opportunity to comment on Waverley’s proposed budget before it goes to executive committee and then to full council for final approval on Tuesday, February 5.

The proposals currently include protecting voluntary sector funding, investing in pavilions and playgrounds and an increase of 2.99 per cent in Waverley’s portion of council tax. The increase in council tax – the maximum allowed by central government – is equivalent to a a £5.20 increase over the year for an average Band D property.

Overview and scrutiny chairman and Farnham Residents councillor David Beaman commended Waverley for a budget that didn’t affect community grants and the committee agreed to recommend the proposals to the executive.

Members expressed concerns about agreeing the fees and charges, however, without supporting information on what the charging decisions were based on and called for a review to be conducted so they had full information.

Haslemere Tory councillor David Round said: “It’s really rather inappropriate to form a decision when we have no idea of the volume. I see the fee for the extermination of squirrels was around £113 but is now reduced to zero. To establish whether that’s okay, we need to know if there were no callouts or 5,000.”

Members also queried if money from the new homes bonus should be used to boost Waverley’s property investment fund rather than to cover a budget shortfall. Waverley’s strategic director Graeme Clark said that because there was “no certainty” about income from the new homes bonus and receipts had halved over the last few years, the council had agreed it was better not to rely on it to balance the budget but use it to generate income.

Farnham Residents councillor Jerry Hyman said: “I know we’ve got a £3.8m shortfall and we are doing lots about it next year. Have we done enough this year?”

? Haslemere Town Council agreed a 0.7 per cent increase in its 2019/20 precept at full council last Thursday (Jan 17), meaning the cost for a Band D household stays the same as last year – £40.57 per year. Two key council projects for the next financial year are refurbishing the public toilets it took over from Waverley and installing CCTV in discussion with Surrey Police.