The Conservatives have Lost Control of Council Spending

Councils in Financial Trouble

You may have seen a number of recent news stories about councils becoming effectively bankrupt – the biggest of which was Birmingham City Council.

What is the situation in Bedford Borough?

The good news is that the council is not currently in a position where it needs to consider making one of these announcements (officially called Section 114).

The Council ended the last financial year in a strong financial position. Under Mayor Dave, the amount of external borrowing went down by £30m, from the £90m inherited from the former County Council. Reserves were in a very strong position to protect services, having been strengthened by £21m.

And all of that was done whilst keeping council tax bills down for residents through good financial control.

And the new budget for the current financial year had £30m extra added into it to protect services from increased costs and demand.

However, whilst the council is starting from this strong position, it is very concerning that the new Finance Portfolio Holder on the Council revealed a £12m forecast overspend in a recent council report. This figure is unprecedented and shows that they have lost control of council spending – despite the extra £30m added to the budget. If this is not tackled effectively the overspend will use up reserves very quickly and put vital services at risk.  

This is something we are watching every carefully on behalf of local residents and have been calling on the Council Cabinet to get spending back under control.

If you would like to see more about this, it was debated at a recent Council Committee and you can see a video here – starting at 28:30.