This evening Somerset Council updated forecasts of its financial position. When we last had figures, following the audit committee meeting in October the forecast deficit for this year was £30m and the forecast for next was £80m.
Things have of course moved on. The council is trying to cut costs in as many ways as possible. There is good news and bad news.
The good news is that forecasts for the deficit for this year now show a reduction to “just” £19m. Even so that would take up nearly half of the £50m left in general reserves. The Leveller understands the council is looking at the possibility of moving money from earmarked reserves into the general reserve. that would certainly shore up the financial position.
Unfortunately the forecast for 2024/25 has worsened. It now stands at a deficit of £87m. And that is, as we have reported previously, unsustainable. It may mean deferring the filing of a s144 notice (bankruptcy) for a year. But that is going to be scant consolation given the scale of cut backs that will be needed.
Cllr Revans added: “No decisions have yet been made but it’s clear we’re going to have to look carefully at every saving proposal. It’s either that or we follow the likes of Birmingham and Croydon Councils and serve a S114 notice. Both scenarios mean we will be effectively setting an emergency budget in February.“
“We will take these hard decisions, working with national government, our communities and our partners to minimise the impacts on our residents and achieve the best outcome possible in this awful situation. I am pleased to have spoken to some of our MPs to outline the situation at Somerset Council and they have agreed to speak up for us. I would urge residents to lobby your local MP and ask them to join us in rolling up our sleeves to work together for the people of Somerset.”
It will be interesting to see which MPs show up. And which are more interested in scoring political points. I imagine most of us already know which camp each will fall into……
If South Somerset’s LibDems and other constituent councils had not borrowed so much and bought dodgy investments and the previous LibDem administration had not left a legacy of massive interest charges this would never have happened…. Surely the councillors concerned should be investigated for misconduct in public office?
Roll on the General Election, after which the new Government can begin to fund public services properly.
I think maybe you have misread the papers. The budget gap position has actually improved. It was projected to be £100m in 2024/5, but that has improved to £87m.
No we didn’t misread them.. But we referenced when we last reported the figures it was £80m at the audit committee meeting in October. Since then the forecast has risen to £100m on 9 Nov and now it’s back down to £87m.
So you we have reported the new figure v the last figure we reported.
The truth is the figures are all over the place and won’t settle down until the budget is built out in February.
That’s just the nature of the beast.
The budget gap reported in October’s Audit Committee was expressed as “over £80m” – calculations were still pending. We had a final figure of £100m at the start of November. So, based on that consolidated budget gap figure, £87m as we move into December represents an improvement on that position. Admittedly it is a fast-moving and complex situation. As you say, the final position won’t be known until Feb/March when all the beads are counted on the Council’s Great Abacus…
That’s what always happens when you let the Lib/dems in charge, last time they left a debt of £354,000,000, the interest Somerset people had to pay alone was eye watering and could have been used supplied services.