'Very difficult to balance council's budget'

David Harris says it is becoming harder for Cornwall Council to balance its budget

Trying to achieve a balanced budget has become "very difficult", Cornwall Council has warned.

The authority said it was forced to fill a £50m hole in its budget during the 2024/25 financial year.

Research by the BBC found that total was the sixth highest funding gap of nearly 200 local authorities across the country.

The council said the rising cost of services it has to provide was putting increased pressure on its ability to balance the books.

Councillor David Harris, the council's portfolio holder for resources, said: "Our expenditure keeps on going up - not because we waste money, but because of demand for services to children in care and the cost of housing and homelessness."

In its budget earlier this year, the council committed an additional £37m to spending on care for adults and children - including providing home to school transport.

"We are doing our best, but it all costs money. You've got to make savings everywhere," he added.

Cornwall Council increased council tax bills by the maximum 4.99%, took millions from its savings and cut spending to help balance its books this year.

It has also considered the sale of hundreds of its assets to help raise extra revenue and abide by its legal obligation to balance its books.

Cornwall Council's funding gap is the sixth highest of nearly 200 councils surveyed

Harris admitted the council was now looking to the budget later this month to see if additional support would come from government.

He said: "I've been saying for ages we need fairer funding and proper funding. We've not had that under the previous government.

"We have no idea what they are going to come out with on 30 October. We might well see nothing, we might see something," he added.

Local Government Minister Jim McMahon said: "This government inherited a crisis in local government and there’s no shying away from the scale.

"These deep-rooted problems won't be fixed overnight, but we are committed to fixing the foundations, reforming and rebuilding the sector from the ground up to begin to get ahead of the underlying pressures for the benefit of councils and local communities."