Service budget information
Below you will find information about the budget figure for each service listed in our consultation survey.
| Service | Comment |
|---|---|
| Bereavement services | This is the net income generated by services at the Crematorium. |
| Committee, mayoral and member services | This is the cost of the members allowances, their support services and the cost of their elections. |
| Community centres | This is for TN2 in Sherwood, Camden Centre in Tunbridge Wells, Wesley Centre Paddock Wood and some community grants e.g.Number 1 Community Centre. |
| Community safety and CCTV | The cost of CCTV is borne entirely by the council without contribution from the Police. This is for the infrastructure and the resources to monitor the CCTV. |
| Economic development | This service provides help and advice to local businesses and shapes the transport infrastructure policy. |
| Environmental health services | This service inspects and enforces premises for food hygiene standards and animal protection. |
| Environmental protection and air quality | This service inspects and enforces premises holding chemicals and potentially dangerous equipment, manages noise complaints and monitors air quality. It also manages taxi licensing. |
| Gateway customer services | This service provides help and support to residents needing to access council services both in the Gateway in Tunbridge Wells and over the phone. |
| Housing and homelessness services | This service ensures that the homeless are housed and works to ensure that there is sufficient affordable housing available. It also provides interest free loans for deposits and rent in advance to help customers move into private rented accommodation. |
| Maintenance of parks and open spaces | This is the maintenance of Dunorlan Park, Calverley Grounds, Grosvenor & Hilbert Park, The Grove, Cranbrook / Hawkenbury / Pennington / Paddock Wood Recreation Grounds and The Grove. |
| Museum | The Museum is closed and being redeveloped into new Amelia Scott facility, which will house a range of arts heritage, culture and well-being services. |
| Parking | The number of vehicles parking has fallen since the pandemic as commuter numbers have fallen and office workers are working from home. Income can only be increased by raising the price for those who are still parking in Tunbridge Wells. |
| Planning and building control | This includes planning policy for the borough and support for developers to build new properties. Prices are set by Govt and cannot be changed by the Council. Cost could only be reduced by reducing service levels. |
| Property and maintenance costs | This is the net cost of maintaining the councils operating and commercial properties. The rents for the commercial properties are set by the market. Reducing this cost would require the council to dispose of some of its assets. |
| Public conveniences | This is the cost of providing public conveniences around the town and in the parks. Conveniences in the Parishes are funded from the Parish precepts. |
| Recreation | This is the net cost of sports provision in the sports centres at St Johns, Paddock Wood and Cranbrook and for various football / rugby / cricket pitches around the borough. Prices to use the facilities could be increased or facilities could be disposed of. |
| Rubbish and recycling collections | This is the net cost of waste and recycling collection. The price of the garden waste collection could be increased to raise revenue or the number of collections could be reduced. A charge could be made for bin replacements. Bulky waste collection prices could be increased. |
| Street cleaning services | This is the cost of road sweeping, cleaning the pavements and emptying litter bins. |
| Theatre | This is the cost of the Assembly Hall Theatre. Prices are set by the market and only certain shows can be delivered in the facility. |
| Investment interest | Investment interest will reduce as the reserves will have been spent. |