East Sussex Cabinet agreed to begin the process of procuring electric vehicle charging points for streets across the county. The Cabinet also noted the challenging financial position facing the council and considered a report on the County's finances and how the council intends to reconcile its policy aims with the resources available to it.

Electric vehicle charging points

The Cabinet discussed proposals to procure electric vehicle charging points using money secured from the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure fund. The council has £4.4m available for the scheme and intends to use a contractor to install around 800 charge points at 280 sites. These sites are intended to provide charging facilities for people who do not have off-street parking. The meeting heard that electric vehicles will be the main alternative to petrol and diesel vehicles after the sale of new petrol and diesel cars is banned in 2035. Some councillors raised concerns about the details of the scheme, such as where the charging points will be placed, how much electricity they will use and who will pay for it, and how the needs of people living in rural areas will be met. Councillor Kathryn Field, for example, was concerned about the placement of charging points on streets:

People who live in those houses park in the road, and although the road isn't theirs, many people believe that the space outside their house is theirs to park in. So when it's got an electric charging point in, and somebody else has decided to park outside their house in their space and charge their car for a long time, I'm slightly concerned that a certain amount of unrest might ensue

Councillor Rupert Simmons responded that:

In relation to charging across pavements and the like, so where people don't have off-street parking, we were expecting some guidance from the Department of Transport. I think it was about to land and then the election got called and so it stalled. And I think once that guidance comes out, we'll be able to give clarity to residents about how they might wish to charge a vehicle where they don't have off-street parking.

Councillor John Stanley was concerned about the usability of the charging points:

every so often I have to go somewhere else other than my own house to charge my car. And often, often I have difficulty, because it's quite a complex process, especially when you're standing on a street corner somewhere these days trying to reach your mobile phone under strong sunlight. And what you really need at that moment is you need the support of the customer services for the company that's supposed to be supplying you with electricity.

Councillor Simmons responded that I expect a sound communications plan that sits with [the chosen contractor] to help consumers .

The council's finances

The Cabinet noted the publication of a report into the Council's financial performance during the 2023/24 financial year. The report, which was discussed in detail at a meeting of the full council the day before, showed an overspend of £10.5m, which the council intends to cover by using its reserves. Councillor Nick Bennett, the Deputy Leader of the Council, said that this overspend:

confirms the challenging financial position that was presented at quarter three and to some extent all through the year.

Councillor Bennett went on to explain the reasons for the overspend:

The year saw overspends across children's and adult social care as the cost pressures for service placements continue to increase reflecting the complexity of need but also the limited provider market to meet these needs. The impact of inflation continued to be felt across all services

Reconciling Policy and Performance Resources: State of the County

The Cabinet discussed the financial challenges facing the council in light of the financial report discussed earlier in the meeting, and the council's stated policy aims as described in the 'State of the County' report previously debated at the full council meeting. The meeting heard that the council has a projected funding gap of £83.6m by 2027/28, something that Councillor Godfrey Daniel described as a:

giant black hole ... a big gap between what we need to spend in the next few years and what we're actually going to have available .

Councillor Daniel went on to describe what he saw as the core issue facing the council:

we're an authority that we understand this year or coming year is going to spend a billion pounds which is a vast sum of money ... but we're not allowed to budget for more than one year accurately at a time because the government will not do what it said it would do which is let us have three years to give three years leeway for us to look forward.

Councillor Stephen Shing asked about the future of the council's offices in light of the move to hybrid working:

now our offices are employed. How, between now, what is the difference of working in office? I mean, coming in the office or mobile home ... I saw the empty office space down there, so what are we going to do [about] that?

Councillor Bennett responded that:

we have been working really hard, A, to make sure that people are working in the place in which they do their work most effectively, but that includes people having a strong sense of ownership of this authority, that people are getting the training opportunities that we're leading and we're not losing the opportunity for people to work across the authority.

Councillor Bennett went on to say that the council had already reduced the size of its offices in Hastings and Eastbourne, and that:

we're well underway looking at the arrangements here in Lewes .

Councillor Carl Maynard summed up the council's position, saying:

This process never stops. It starts now. This is the starting point. This is the gun. So we will continue to evolve.