Eastbourne Borough Council receives exceptional Government funding amid housing emergency

The council has stated that it would receive an extra £6 million from a government loan, but council leader Stephen Holt has said ‘it changes very little’ after it had announced a housing emergency.

Councillor Holt said: “The Government has accepted our request for the exceptional financial support.

“We asked for urgent support because of a social and financial crisis created by rising levels of homelessness and spiralling costs associated with temporary accommodation placements.

“This is a national crisis and Eastbourne Borough Council led the campaign to highlight the threat it poses to the future viability of local councils.

“In Eastbourne we are spending 49p in every pound of council tax we collect on temporary accommodation. The total cost to the council in this year alone is £5 million.”

Cllr Holt confirmed that in response, the Government has agreed to borrowing of £3 million in 2023/24 and £3 million in 2024/25.

He added: “While the funding support is welcome, I’m afraid it changes very little in the scale of savings now required and the very tough decisions we will have to take.

“We have to pay back the borrowing from the government at an added cost and meet the savings targets already identified.

“This means that in order to achieve nearly £5 million in savings over the next financial year, every penny in discretionary council spending is under review.