More savings must be found during summer - council

Councillors voted to approve the budget by 39 votes to 27

Further savings must be found during the summer, Dudley council said, as its budget was approved.

Saving £15m and increasing council tax by 5% were only part of measures needed to get the authority back to stability, cabinet member for finance Steve Clark stated.

Labour’s finance spokesman, Shaukat Ali, said years of Conservative mismanagement had "left us on the brink of financial collapse".

Council leader Tory Patrick Harley accused Mr Ali of wanting to slash services to save money and said the deficit had been cut by half "in just four months".

Councillors voted to approve the budget by 39 votes to 27 following a debate.

Mr Clark told a full council meeting the authority knew that to continue operating within a legal and sustainable budget it would have to "radically reduce" the total operating model.

“Work is underway now and we will not wait for the ordinary autumn budget timetable, we want to be approving new savings and income measures as soon as the summer.”

'Starting to bite'

Spending restrictions mean 2023 Community Forum small grant money, supporting voluntary groups, is held in limbo, which Conservative leaders have pledged to release as soon as possible.

For the next three years the annual £240,000 allocated for these grants is part of savings identified.

Mr Lowe said if Labour came to power, it would review councillors' allowances to bring the grants back in the first year.

Mr Ali said the council was on the brink of financial collapse and added "residents did not cause this, yet they are the ones who will bear this and suffer the most".

Mr Harley said the council took "correct measures in October with spending controls in place", adding: "They are now starting to bite and they are working.

"The Labour front bench has criticised us – saying we need to go further and faster."

Lib Dem councillor Ryan Priest said the budget was "not fair" and that Dudley was in this position because of a decade of managed decline by the Conservatives and Labour.

Mark Westwood, from the new group of independent councillors, said: "Not many moons ago we were a four-star council for our budget performance. Where on earth has it gone wrong?"

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.