Town hall finances in turmoil as Blackpool faces £11m overspend this year

The council will find out on December 21 how much money it will receive from the Government next year, but Coun Lynn Williams says finances are already “under considerable strain”.

In a report to a full meeting of the council, she warns: “However, soaring market costs for support for vulnerable children and increased demand for adult social care provision, plus the rising costs of providing care, are still creating a burden that current levels of local taxation and Government funding struggle to meet.”

She adds that Government support to cover the cost of Covid spending has “fallen well short of the actual costs”, leaving the council with an additional bill of £3.16m in 2020/21 and £2.59m in 2021/22.

Coun Williams says: “Inflationary pressures and service demand have now altered the outlook for the worse and created a great deal of additional uncertainty.

“In addition to issues mentioned elsewhere in this report, challenges in recruitment and retention of staff are also contributing to a situation inwhich council finances are under considerable strain.”

The council’s working balances are expected to fall by £11.4m to a surplus of £795,000 by the end of the current financial year to cover the overspend.

Looking ahead, town hall chiefs are forecasting savings of just over £35m will be required in the next financial year, with gaps of £7.9m, £6.9m and £7.8m over the following three years.

Coun Williams adds “the extreme situation this year means the only realistic option to address the budget gap is significant additional funding from the government.”

Conservative councillors raised concerns over council spending, and asked if regeneration projects in the town would be affected by rising costs and inflation.

The meeting heard while the number of children living in care had reduced down to 568, costs remained high due to complex needs.

Coun Andrew Stansfield suggested the council should set up its own arms length company to run children’s homes, saying “we could bring costs down and I’m sure we could do a better job.”