Council ‘working hard’ to resolve its dire finances
Slough: Leader says efforts are being made to cut borough’s projected deficit
The leader of Slough Borough Council (SBC) said it is working as hard as it ‘possibly can’ to resolve its dire financial situation at an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Cabinet members met to discuss the 2022/23 budget, which was due to go before the full council for approval last night (Thursday).
The council is facing a deficit of £223.1million up until the end of this financial year and an estimated further £84.1million in 2022/23.
An estimate for the forthcoming year shows that the budget requirement is 78 per cent more than the funding sources.
Speaking at the meeting on Wednesday night, council leader James Swindleshurst (Lab, Cippenham Green) praised the work of interim chief finance officer Steven Mair and the new finance team, stating that the council was in a ‘much better’ position now in knowing what its financial situation is.
He added: “The problems in this council are not exclusively those of officers and staff, they affect all bits of the council.
“They are part of our corporate body and that means they reach everywhere from opposition to the ruling administration, to scrutiny, everywhere, and decisions we have made along the way – some of them on flawed information.
“But all of those decisions have contributed to the situation we find ourselves in and I don’t think any member of the cabinet fails to accept responsibility for what has happened.”
Cllr Swindlehurst added that the council is ‘committed’ to working as hard as it ‘possibly can’ to resolve the situation in Slough and dig itself out of the hole it has found itself in.
The council requires a capitalisation direction from the Government, which would enable it to sell off assets to meet the deficit and provide key services.
The council has received a letter from the Government regarding capitalisation, but Cllr Swindlehurst said this was a ‘minded’ letter and not ‘actual capitalisation’, as ‘that will come when the accounts are approved, and the numbers are precise’.
Cllr Swindlehurst added that the council was fortunate to be ‘fairly asset rich’ and some of the decisions it made around investments grew this portfolio.
He said this means the council will have assets which will ‘release significant sums of money to repair this situation’ (see p3 for more).
Speaking at the meeting, Mr Mair said that financial support from the Government’s Department of Levelling Up, Communities and Housing was ‘absolutely fundamental’ in the council being able to set this budget.
He explained that the budget depends on the Government financial support for each year, achieving the savings that need to be made, and the assumed asset sales of up to £600million. Mr Mair said the council is modelling through to 2027/28 for it to be ‘back into a stable place’.
Cllr Swindlehurst said that the budget was a ‘significant turning point’ because the council now has surety from the Government that ‘all the provisions missing’ in some of the past years’ accounts will be ‘dealt with through the capitalisation direction’.
“Now all of our processes are about how we move forward for future years and to fully repair the council, restore its professional side in terms of staff and getting an appropriate cohort of people back to have a functional council again,” he added.
Touching on the capital programme at the meeting, leader of the opposition, Cllr Dexter Smith (Con, Colnbrook and Poyle) discussed the Nova House project, stating that it needs to be brought to ‘some sort of conclusion rapidly’.
Cllr Swindlehurst responded stating that the council said a few months ago that it would no longer be involved in the project and had agreed an exit strategy.
Cllr Pavitar K Mann (Lab and Co-Op, Britwell and Northborough) referred back to the report, stating that there will be no further capital expenditure in relation to Nova House.
Cabinet recommended all agenda items for approval at full council, including the 2022/23 Revenue Budget.