Council warns of further savings in years to come

B&NES Council has reiterated it will need to make more savings ahead of a budget monitoring report to be released in September. The council set its budget in February, which outlined savings of £17 million planned for this year, £9.8m to be saved in 2019, plus set itself a target of finding areas where further savings of £1.9m could be made. That brings the total savings for the period to £28.7m. However the plan also forecasts that more savings will be needed in the years to come, with the council saying its spend needs to be reduced by £16.4m for the years 2020-2023. The cuts already mean the council’s 2,000 strong workforce is being reduced, with around 300 job losses of 300, including around 220 job cuts this year. “An update of the council’s position will be published shortly through a full budget monitoring report to cabinet in September and an update of our medium term financial strategy in October,” said a spokesperson for the council, adding: “Bath & North East Somerset Council continues to provide a range of family support services for those families who don’t meet the threshold for social care support.” The cuts come at a time when the number of children in care has increased, and the demand for social care support is also going up. There are currently 182 children in care, an increase of 11 children when compared to the same quarter last year. However the council spokesperson added that the need for these services had already been recognised in the budget. “Both adult social care and children’s services budgets were rebased as part of that exercise in recognition of the increased demand for those services,” he added. The council hopes to add more money to its coffers with a number of measures, including leasing out office space, retaining more business rates locally and establishing a council-owned housing company to generate income and deliver new homes.