Commercial successes help lessen cuts but financial outlook bleak
The drive to make Telford & Wrekin a more commercial council securing new and growing existing sources of income is already paying off, last year generating an extra £600,000 for the Council.
Despite this success, it is warning that deep cuts will continue. The Council has already begun making the £30 million of cuts it must find by 2018 but is now warning that there will be more to come as the grant from Government to councils continues to reduce as demand for many services is increasing.
A report to the Council’s cabinet shows that last year, thanks to its continued strong financial management, the Council underspent its £124 million net budget by 0.1 per cent or just over £100,000.
Reasons for this positive position include the £600,000 of new commercial income, £1 million saved by not filling vacant posts and over £7 million from cost effective treasury management initiatives.
These and other one-offs are being used to help limit cuts in services across the Council and ensure it is as prepared as possible for the next wave of cuts.
The strong financial performance has also allowed the Council to set aside a number of one-off sums including £2.1 million to cushion the impact of cuts in 2017/18, a £1.5 million fund for environmental improvements and £1.2 million for household waste and recycling contract costs.
Significant budget pressures remain in two key areas; adult social services, in particular for the cost of purchased care packages and the cost of children in care.
Councillor Lee Carter, cabinet member for finance, said: “The Council has done very well to control its budget despite having to make £10 million of further cuts last year on top of the £70 million made in the previous six years and to put itself in a position where it is well placed for the very difficult financial challenges still to come.
“This is largely thanks to the Council’s strong financial management and the success of our drive to become a more commercial council, which is already making a very important contribution.
“We are also able to put aside some one-off money to use for very specific initiatives many of which will help the council to run more efficiently in future and meet a number of key one-off priorities.
“But make no mistake, the financial outlook remains very bleak. In the last six years, we have cut £80 million from our budget. We already have to cut another £30 million by 2018 and know that we’ll need to find significantly more on top of this by 2020.
“This will be a very difficult and painful task. Our positive approach of developing new commercial initiatives and forging new partnerships to find different ways of running services will help to limit this .
