IN a bid to make £9-million of savings to balance the books in next year’s budget, Cornwall Council will now consider offloading “more or all” of its car parks to a separate company.

A budget scrutiny meeting met on Thursday, October 31, to see how more savings could be met as the council continues to teeter on a financial precipice.

In February the council stated there would be a £67-million budget gap for 2025/26, which was reduced to £58-million after a review of directorates. Following “not necessarily desirable” cuts to various service directorates, savings of £49-million have been made, but that means there is still a funding gap of just over £9-million.

The net revenue budget for 2025/26 is forecast to be £825-million. After council ‘income’ is taken into account, such as council tax (around £417-million), a 100 per cent council tax premium on second homes introduced next year (£23.7m), business rates (£273.7-million) and government grants (£101-million), that leaves the local authority still short to the tune of £9-million. The committee met to discuss ways in which that amount can be reduced further still.

Following a seven-and-a-half-hour meeting, including a three-hour discussion in private, the committee recommended that consideration be given to transfer more or all of the council’s car parks to its arm’s length company Corserv to “reduce the council’s expenditure and realise an income share from Corserv subject to the lawfulness of the proposal being taken forward”.

The committee acknowledged there are legal impediments associated with the proposal. Any car parks that are transferred are then likely to be managed by enforcement companies.

The council is already looking to ‘decentralise’ as many as 50 of its car parks as part of a plan to make £2-million of savings by getting rid of as many as 2,000 of the local authority’s assets. The various assets would either be devolved to town and parish councils, sold or leased to companies to run.

The council currently owns 231 car parks, 48 per cent of which are classed as town centre facilities, a further 25 per cent coastal and rural car parks make up just eight per cent. Cornwall Council receives around £300,000 a year from car park enforcement income, while paid income from parking is roughly around £18-million a year.

Other savings the committee recommended for consideration included adding £3 per year to the cost of an annual subscription for garden waste collection and the possibility of it being paid in instalments for those who may not be able to afford the annual payment in one go.

A proposal to cut a £18,000 fund for a domestic violence and sexual abuse service was rejected, with the committee suggesting the money should be found from other budgets within the council’s neighbourhoods directorate or from £5-million which is earmarked to go into reserves from the 100 per cent council tax premium on second homes when it is introduced next year.

Councillors also asked that adjusting the level of spend associated with net carbon zero projects should also be considered as well as the introduction of a £10 ‘carbon reduction fee’ for every passenger aged over 17 using Cornwall Airport Newquay.