City councillors consider cuts to plug £7m gap

[dutchman]

The Labour-run council's political leadership is exploring options for spending cuts



Coventry City Council is considering making further cuts to some public services after forecasting an overspend of £7m this year.

It has said it is facing budget pressures including rising costs, service demand and income shortfalls.

There is a "significant threat" the funding gap will increase without "further urgent and ongoing action", the council said.

The stark assessment was included in a financial monitoring report, external published by the local authority, and the BBC has approached it for further comment.

The report does not identify which services may be at risk of spending cuts.

The council’s finance director said no "extraordinary action" was needed at this stage.

But senior councillors have been told they "should be in no doubt that the underlying position for 2024/25 is again incredibly challenging".

"Additionally, without fundamental change in the funding regime for local government, the council will continue to face some difficult choices in respect of 2025/26 and future years," the report added.

In recent years, the Labour-run council has repeatedly warned it is at risk of having to issue a Section 114 notice, effectively declaring that it is bankrupt.

A section 114 is a report issued by a council's finance officer when they believe the local authority's income will not cover its costs for the next year.

Birmingham City Council signed off service cuts worth £300m and a 21% rise in council tax over two years after issuing a section 114 notice in 2023.

In Coventry, the city council is attempting to make £8.4m in cuts to services in 2024-25 to help plug a £20m gap in its finances.

The last budget - approved by councillors in February - included a 4.99% rise in council tax, a reduction in overnight street lighting, and a £40-a-year charge for garden waste collection.

In its latest financial monitoring report, the council said it had already taken "a significant number of one-off actions" to reduce the overspend.

The report says "further urgent action" is being assessed to address the pressure to stop the 2025-26 position increasing to "unmanageable levels".

Council officers have been asked to review the "service impact of reducing ongoing spend levels to within budget" and "policy options", among other requests.

The report said these were likely to involve considering cuts that have "previously been viewed as unfavourable".

Those council officers are now expected to model a number of options to reduce the shortfall both this financial year and next.

Although the report does not specify what those are likely to involve, it could see some difficult decisions, particularly on services it is not required to provide by law.

Councils have a legal duty to provide some services - such as social care and housing - but others are discretionary.

[rebbonk]

... services it is not required to provide by law.

These should be the first to go if the council is in dire straits. One might question why they are providing these services in the first place? - Follow the money!

They might also like to stop their vanity projects and futile attempts to be little Richard Bransons, wheeling and dealing in business.

[dutchman]

Huge Coventry council cuts ditched after outcry and national funding boost



Plans for unpopular cuts to Coventry public services have been ditched by councillors. It comes after an outcry from residents to the moves and a boost in the funding the council receives.

Free parking at Coventry's War Memorial Park will continue, according to the council's final budget. Charity-run adult services, including Grapevine's support for people with learning disabilities, will not lose funding.

Street cleaning budgets will also not be slashed by 10 per cent, avoiding a feared rise in flytipping. Hundreds of people had opposed the changes in petitions, and residents staged a protest and spoke out at a meeting last month.

Councillors said they have listened to the public and responded. They also claimed extra money from Westminster this year had allowed them to make changes.

Overall, the council's final budget has axed a dozen service cuts worth around £3 million put forward in its initial proposals. It means elections, city events, council tax help and support for essential home items will stay the same.

The council also plans to spend £2 million extra on its services for only the next year, 2025-26. The cash will go on road improvements, tackling fly tipping sand antisocial behaviour, and hosting city events including Godiva festival.

The plan, which sets out spending over the next three years, is set to be rubber-stamped by councillors later this month. Cllr Richard Brown, who leads on finance, said he is "really pleased" they do not have to make some of the cuts and can spend more on some areas such as fixing potholes.

Council figures show it will get £10.5 million more in funding from the government this year than it had predicted. Papers shared with the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) state councils nationally got extra money worth £2 billion and these went mainly to councils that provide social care and waste disposal on a needs basis.

Budget papers also show the council's annual costs have increased by around £8 million compared to its original forecast, including a rise in employers NI contributions. Some of the government money it will receive is also ring-fenced and must go on children's services.

Councillors will debate and vote on the budget a meeting later this month, 25 February.