Samford Division
February Newsletter
Cllr Georgia Hall
Georgia.hall@suffolk.gov.uk
07955 434445

Council focuses on children’s services, adult care, and the environment, as
budget confirmed

Suffolk County Council has approved its financial budget for 2022-23, alongside its first-ever
full Net Zero carbon budget.
Both items were passed at the Full Council meeting on Thursday 17 February 2022,
providing a focus on children’s services, adult care, and the environment.
The council’s budget will rise by 4.5% (from £598.2m to £625.4m), with the additional
money generated by a 1.99% increase in council tax, a further 1.00% from the Adult Care
Precept, and an increase in grants received from the Government.
The Net Zero carbon budget will allow the council to measure its carbon emissions and
monitor and evaluate the impact of decisions it makes. This will mean it can report each
year on its progress, tracking its ambitions towards Net Zero.
Councillor Richard Rout, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and
Environment at Suffolk County Council, said:
“Today was the first time the council chamber has witnessed a financial budget and a
carbon budget being approved. It is important to give our Net Zero Carbon Budget equal
weighting to our financial budget – it highlights our commitment to responding to our
climate emergency declaration.
“Our financial budget means will not see any reductions in our services, and we’re further
investing where it is most needed. Our aim is always to provide the best possible services
for everyone in Suffolk and provide value for money.”
The overall increase of 2.99% to council tax, will see a Band D property’s bill rise by 80
pence per week. The council’s Cabinet had the option to increase the adult care element of
council tax by a further 1% but decided against this.
Some of the detail of the budget, includes:
• £1.1m increase for the family services budget, specifically to address
recommendations made by the recent independent SEND review
• £1m additional funding for Suffolk Highways over the next four years, for example to
fund road signs and responsible verge cutting
• £10m to specifically deliver an increasing number of drainage schemes (over the
next three years)
• £10m to improve footpath quality and access (over the next three years)
• £12.8m to decarbonise the buildings that SCC owns (by 2030)
• Investments this year to set up future borrowing for bigger schemes, such as SEND
and carbon reduction
A net increase in Government Grants of £6.0 million, or £20.7 million once the £14.7 million
of one-off COVID-19 Emergency Grant received in 2021-22 is excluded. Of this £20.7 million,
£11.7 million relates to additional grant funding for social care

75p of every £1 Suffolk County Council spends goes towards supporting those who need it
most through Adult Care, Children’s Services, and Public Health.
The remaining 25p in every £1 is then used to cover the cost of other vital services, including
Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, road maintenance, footpaths, waste services, libraries and
addressing the challenges surrounding climate change, to name just a few.

Council’s commitment to further enhancing Suffolk’s natural environment
It was announced on February 1
st
that Suffolk County Council will be doing even more for
the county’s natural environment.
Suffolk County Council will be doing even more for the county’s natural environment, as it
confirms plans to enhance the biodiversity of at least 30% of its land and assets, by 2030.
This means it will be progressing its work around managing highway trees, planting more
hedgerow, nature-based flood management solutions, roadside nature reserves, and much
more.
The council already planted 100,000 trees last year and is on course to plant another
100,000 this year. It has also put in around 20 kilometres of mixed species hedgerow.
Councillor Richard Rout, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and
Environment at Suffolk County Council, said:
“Biodiversity is in decline nationally, and across the globe. These plans are not just about
stopping its decline here in Suffolk but reversing it. By 2030 we want to see much more
biodiversity on our estate than there is now.
“The council can have great influence on the natural environment, as we are a significant
landowner, we are the highway authority, and we build new housing.
“We have made a lot of progress in recent years, not least with our tree planting, having
committed to £400,000 from our Suffolk 2020 Fund. Just a few months ago we secured
more funding from the Forestry Commission, on behalf of our borough and district councils,
to plant trees in neglected and disused community spaces, bringing them back to life.
“We will ensure we manage our highway verges for biodiversity wherever we can; we will
support our county farm tenants to enhance biodiversity across our farm estate; we will
deliver twice the biodiversity net gain required through our housing programme.
“By working with our partners and local communities, we can help wildlife to thrive,
increase habitats and species across the county, and reverse the decline we’ve seen.”
Ben McFarland, Head of Conservation, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, said:
“To tackle the twin crises of the climate and biodiversity emergencies it’s essential that
nature is embedded into our collective decision-making. This bold, ambitious plan from
Suffolk County Council does just that.
“We need at least 30% of our land and sea in recovery for nature by 2030. Showing
leadership, working collaboratively, and acting on carbon and nature together will underpin
a healthy and thriving Suffolk for everyone. This is a hugely positive step forward for our
county.”

The plans will also help work towards the council’s ambitions of being a Net Zero
organisation by 2030, with Suffolk’s nature being an integral part of the carbon cycle.
The policy’s ambitions stretch across the whole organisation, from looking at the impact of
street lighting, to how it procures goods and services.
One example of the positive changes that the council will make, is to stop using Glyphosate
in all highway maintenance operations. This will happen as soon as it is able to deploy a
suitable alternative, and at the latest by 2023 for routine weed treatment programmes. The
council will work with other local authorities, both locally and through the Local
Government Association, in reaching this goal as soon as possible.
The proposals were agreed at Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet meeting on 1 February 2022,
following the work undertaken by the Policy Development Panel which was set up in July
2021.

Suffolk cements commitment to keeping its communities safe
A new strategy was announced on February 7
th
outlining how Suffolk will address Violence
Against Women and Girls has been published today.
The strategy has been prepared collaboratively by the Safer Stronger Communities Board
(SSCB) – consisting of representatives from Suffolk County Council, district and borough
councils, the police, Suffolk’s Police & Crime Commissioner, community safety partnerships,
health and probation services, the Norfolk & Suffolk Criminal Justice Board and Suffolk
Safeguarding Partnership.
All board members hold a shared ambition to tackle the incredibly important issue of
Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) which includes, but is not limited to, domestic
abuse, sexual violence, stalking, coercive and controlling behaviour, and revenge porn – all
of which have a devastating impact on victim-survivors, families, and communities.
One domestic abuse survivor said:
“Unless you have been in this predicament, I don’t think you can fully comprehend how life
changing the whole experience is and how necessary the support system is.”
Much work has been done on preventing VAWG since the launch of the county’s first
strategy in 2018, which led to the establishment of Suffolk’s 24/7 domestic abuse helpline,
additional accommodation for survivors and the creation of a Domestic Abuse Perpetrators
Unit to help offenders address and alter their behaviour.
However, with recent figures showing an increase in sexual offences and domestic violence
nationally, the board recognises the need to continue to drive forward positive change
through effective partnership working.

Suffolk’s new VAWG Strategy outlines how this will be achieved in the county, with four key
objectives – prevention, supporting victims, pursuing perpetrators, and strengthening the
system – forming the basis for its approach.

Relevant strategies, policies, and legislation, including the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and the
police and Government’s response to VAWG, have also been reflected to enable Suffolk to
complement the national effort.
In addition, the strategy will be accompanied by an action plan for 2022 – 2025 to help
ensure meaningful activity. This has been informed by members of the board, local
charities, and domestic abuse survivors – who praised the system for enabling them to co-
create proposals and have their say.
To support the board in implementing both the strategy and action plan, Suffolk County
Council has contributed £350,000 towards this.
The strategy is available to view online here.

£6.4 million project to ‘Reclaim the Rain’ and tackle flooding
It was announced on February 15
th
that Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils were successful
in winning £6.4 million to implement innovative sustainable water management projects.
Both councils placed a joint bid into Defra’s 6-year Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation
Programme and were 1 of 25 successful projects chosen to take part.
The joint project, named ‘Reclaim the Rain’ sets out to improve flood and drought resilience
in at least six small rural communities across Norfolk and Suffolk.
Norfolk and Suffolk both face considerable surface water flood risk, while also being the
driest region in the UK. The project will deliver beneficial flood water reuse by agriculture,
industry, communities, and the environment combined with nature-based flood
management solutions.
The project will involve both partner organisations and the community in the development
of suitable flood water reuse schemes. The schemes will address the community’s needs in
terms of flood risk and water resource requirements, and could result in provision of:
• Habitat creation and restoration.
• Rain Gardens.
• Rainwater Capture and Reuse for community, agriculture, or business use.
• Retrofitted sustainable drainage systems (Suds).
• Smart Leaky Water Butts and more…
Councillor Paul West, Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet Member for Ipswich, Operational
Highways and Flooding, said:
“Flooding is a very real and challenging issue across many areas in Suffolk and there is much
we are doing to minimise the plight this has our residents. This project will take our efforts
to the next level by working with communities to capture that excess water and put it to
good use. We live in the driest part of the UK, so every drop that falls on it is precious – any
way that we can find a more sustainable use for this water will benefit us now and in years
to come.

“I very much welcome the funding to enable us to do this, and congratulate officers and
communities across the two counties, in what will no doubt be a fascinating and innovative
6-year programme.”

To find out more about Reclaim the Rain and how you can get involved,
visit: www.reclaimtherain.org.