Warwickshire County Council today announced that it intends to remove savings planned in library services and some public health and invest more in preventative activity.
When the budget was set in February, final Public Health grant and Business Rate figures had not been confirmed. Now, having received better than anticipated figures, the Council has reconsidered some of the most difficult savings planned and is now pleased to propose the following:
- No changes to Sunday opening hours;
- Scaling back of planned expansion of the Community Managed Library Network;
- A £900k boost in spending on preventative activity through our main Public Health contracts, including a particular focus on new birth visits within 14 days, infant mortality, NHS health checks;
- Removal of the Public Health savings relating to domestic violence and abuse due for implementation in 2027/28 and Independent Sexual Violence Advice due for implementation from 2026/27; and
- Removal of the saving relating to mental health prevention services.
Cabinet will be asked to confirm the above at its meeting in April.
Cllr Peter Butlin, deputy leader and portfolio holder for Finance and Property, commented:
“I am delighted that due to our prudent approach to the Council’s finances, we are now able to remove the savings we most wanted to avoid. We propose to boost investment in preventative activity and maintain library services enjoyed by so many on Sundays. It is a constant challenge to protect these services from the impact of financial pressures and I am sure many of our residents will be delighted with the news.”
Cllr Margaret Bell, portfolio holder for Adult Social Care and Health commented:
“Investment in prevention is key to addressing health inequalities across the County. It is good news indeed that we can reverse these savings and invest more in core preventative activity."