£20 million budget gap top of Swindon Borough Council's agenda
Councillors are coming together in today's Cabinet meeting
The widening budget gap at Swindon Borough Council is top of the agenda this afternoon - with the Cabinet discussing a near £20 million black hole in their finances.
It's estimated the gap is being driven by cost pressures in both children's and adult social care services.
They're putting in place robust spending controls and a recruitment freeze, except for the most essential roles.
In the latest set of accounts, it's forecast the local authority face a £7.6m in-year budget overspend with next year’s budget (2025/26) - showing an estimated £18.9m budget gap.
Currently, the overspend is down to a number of factors - with pressure mainly coming from Children’s and Adults’ social care services - costing £5.1m and £2.4m respectively.
Looking ahead to next year, the Council’s Cabinet will hear that the current £18.9m forecast budget gap is after £12.1m in proposed savings have been taken into account.
However, these could change, as the Government’s provisional Local Government Finance Settlement is due later this month, which will set out the precise impact of measures announced in the Autumn Budget.
It's reported Swindon Borough Council could - as a last resort - apply for Exceptional Financial Support in order to help the local authority meet its legal duty to balance the Council’s budget in 2025/26.
Exceptional Financial Support gives councils temporary permission for a financial year to use capital funds raised through borrowing, or from the sale of assets such as land and buildings, to plug funding gaps in their day-to-day revenue spending.
Last February, 19 councils were given Exceptional Financial Support from the Government.
The 2024-25 budget proposals being tabled assume a 2.99 per cent increase for core council tax and two per cent for the adult social care precept.
Final budget proposals will be tabled at the Cabinet meeting on 12 February, before being discussed and voted on at Full Council on 27 February.
In a separate report, the Council’s Cabinet will be asked to endorse the Swindon 2028 transformation programme, which aims to deliver millions of pounds in savings over the next four years.
Councillor Kevin Small, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “Swindon is a microcosm of the wider local government sector and the Government is under no illusions about the scale of the issues we are facing.
“The cost and demand for social care services continues to rise, making up around 80 per cent of our budget.
“The Government recognises that system-wide reform of both children’s and adults’ social care is essential if these costs are to become more financially sustainable for local authorities. It has also committed to reforming local authority funding, for example, by introducing multi-year funding settlements from 2026/27 to give local authorities the certainty to plan and invest for the long term.
“While these much-needed reforms are very welcome, they won’t help us in the immediate term. That’s why we continue to do everything we can to cut spending, applying strict controls.
“We are also investing in a transformation programme in order to fundamentally change how we deliver services, achieve better resident outcomes and value for money between now and 2028.”