Rushton signals new round of cuts as council running costs continue to spiral
LEICESTERSHIRE County Council says it will need to make millions of pounds worth of further cuts as spiralling inflation has left its finances in a “frightening situation”.
Where and how deeply the cuts will be made is yet to be decided, but the council says “popular services” will be affected.
These could include business support, highways maintenance, waste services and buses, said Councillor Nick Rushton, leader of the Conservative-run authority, who added the adult and children’s social care budgets, which account for some of its biggest costs, would also need to be reviewed.
In February, it was announced the council would need to make a staggering £100 million worth of savings over the next four years, with £46 million of this still to be identified.
The budget shortfall is now expected to be about £70 million, shifting the overall savings needed to about £125 million.
When announcing the budget shortfall earlier in the year, Councillor Lee Breckon, lead member for resources, said that “service reductions would only be explored when every other avenue has been considered”. The council has now said further action needs to be taken.
Coun Rushton said: “In the same way households are struggling with rising costs, it is simply becoming more and more expensive for the council to provide services because inflation is galloping away – with not much prospect of things improving any time soon. When we set our budget in February we said our situation was bad.
“Then Putin invaded Ukraine creating an economic aftershock that affects us and every council in a way that could not have been predicted. This means we are now going to have to consider the kind of savings which will be unpopular and which we try to avoid.
“Though no decisions have yet
been taken I want to level with people about the frightening financial situation we face. Officers have been asked to start working on new savings proposals as a matter of urgency, which will have to include popular services such as support to businesses, highways maintenance, waste sites and buses, as well as in the more significant adults and children’s social care budgets.”
With inflation at 9 per cent and expected to pass 11 per cent by October, the council has said the costs of providing day-to-day services, as well as long-term major infrastructure projects to accommodate a growing county population, have surged.
It predicts that statutory social care for vulnerable and older adults and children will be the main service costs driven up sharply by inflation.
Councillor Simon Galton, Liberal Democrat member and opposition finance spokesman, said it was hard to believe the county council’s finances could get any worse.
“The urgent report presented by officers paints a bleak picture,” he said.
“The fact they are having to reopen the budget agreed by the council less than three months into the financial year, underlines the seriousness of the situation. Unpicking a budget part-way through the year to make cuts to services is never a good idea and usually leads to bad decisions.”
Coun Rushton said some of the projects the council was working on would have to be “cancelled, mothballed or reduced in scope”.
Council officers are expected to provide a further update in September on where cuts could be made.
Coun Rushton said: “We do not want to do this, but we know from experience that local authorities, like ours, which have reacted early to financial challenges have managed the best. Waiting to find out exactly how bad things will get serves only to limit our options later and leave us looking at knee-jerk decisions.”
‘POPULAR SERVICES’ WILL BE HIT AS COUNTY AUTHORITY BATTLES ‘GALLOPING’ INFLATION