The chair of the Local Government Association says:
“The risk of financial failure across local government is potentially becoming systemic.”
Surrey County Council faces a budget black hole of over £150 million over the next two years. An investigation into the Council’s finances has found that the Council has approved more than £53.7 million in savings proposals for this financial year, including slashing home-to-school transport.
Despite these cuts, it will face a black hole of £151.7 million by 2026-27. That works out as 12.6% of the Council’s net budget, or £124.90 for everyone in Surrey.
Speaking about the findings, Local Government Association Chair, Councillor Louise Gittins, said:
“The risk of financial failure across local government is potentially becoming systemic. This is demonstrated by the fact that so many councils rely on Exceptional Financial Support from the Government to secure their financial sustainability for 2024/25. This is unprecedented. “
One of the casualties is a delay in the Farnhan Town Centre programme.
Surrey’s finance director colleagues said that, like councils elsewhere in the country, it operated in a very challenging environment.
The cost of service delivery, increasing demand, financial uncertainty, and government policy changes meant it faced financial challenges. It would have to find efficiencies and reduce spending. The financial outlook beyond 24/24 was uncertain. With no clarity on central government funding in the medium term, the Council’s working assumption was that economic resources would continue to be constrained, as they had been for the past decade. This places an onus on the Council to continue considering financial sustainability issues.
The most significant pressure area continued to be the overspending related to Home to School Travel Assistance of £7.4m, reflecting several factors, including growth in eligible Special Educational Needs SEN pupil numbers exceeding the initial assumptions.
Considering current trends, new modelling has led to increased demand, which additional in-year placements have partly contributed to.
Significant work to mitigate the demand pressures meant the forecast overspend had remained steady in the year: environment, Infrastructure & Growth – £6.5m overspend, £3.1m increase from M5. Highways and Transport forecast a £3.0m overspend concerning verge maintenance improvements. Additional pressures of £2m mainly relating to parking and traffic enforcement (contract inflation linked to the living wage, lower than expected levels of enforcement) have been mitigated by planned drawdown of one-off prior year parking surpluses. Land & Property forecast a pressure of £2.4m, an increase of £0.6m on last month.
Issues include increased facilities management and utilities costs (including backdated electricity charges), dual operation of office buildings, and delays to anticipated rental income.
It took 30 + years to plan Farnham development in the centre of town with the old cinema plot a waste ground for 30+ years. Why knock it down if you don’t have the money to finish the job
Let’s see.
Brightwells. Disaster.
Dial a bus (ala Connect) Disaster.
Farnham Infrastructure. Disaster.
Corporate investment portfolio. Disaster.
SEND. Disaster.
To name a few.
Then we have.
“Nobody left behind” propaganda that is sickeningly hollow. Children are suffering because of the utter incompetence of a council that is more interested in propping up the pretence of itself, hiding behind sub committees shuffling non existent funds tied up in empty promises, rather than actually doing the job. Because they can’t. There is no money. And why? Because no Govt would ever see Surrey default.
Well this one will.
SCC needs to sell sell sell just to cover the interest on its enormous debt and what will it do when it has nothing left?
Closures
Redundancies
Suffering
The Emperor won’t get much relief from a Government hell bent on sorting the nations finances when he has a portfolio of A grade s+++e.
MeaninglessMud