Ipswich Borough Council predict £23 million budget gap
They're blaming it on inflation
Last updated 11th Jan 2023
A projected budget gap of almost £23 million at Ipswich Borough Council has been put down to inflation.
The council’s financial position is now worse than the one brought about by the pandemic, according to cabinet member for resources Cllr Martin Cook.
Cllr Cook said: “Like a lot of councils, we suffered a loss of income during Covid, a lot of which we have regained.
“Covid was the most financially challenging time I can remember in the council but now the situation is even worse.
“Inflation has been a huge pressure – particularly energy and electricity costs. It takes a lot of energy to operate some of our facilities.
“We are still working on where we could make savings. We want to understand our position first, rather than making a knee-jerk reaction.
“We will keep in mind how any changes we make to save money affect people in Ipswich. For example, we are committed to keeping the free brown bin collection service – something that isn’t offered at other Suffolk councils.
“Our focus will still be on important schemes such as the free summer sports programme for children, which we will do all we can to keep.”
Cllr Cook mentioned £1.25 million should be coming to the council from central government, which is a little bit more than expected but still not enough to cover the costs brought about by inflation.
The estimated £22.7 million budget gap by March 31 this year was presented to Ipswich Borough Council’s cabinet last Thursday.