Council set to discuss cuts to save £7m

Every budget apart from wages could be cut by 1% to save a predicted £2.5m, a council report said

The City of Wolverhampton Council is set to discuss a round of cuts to save £7m in this year’s budget.

A report for the authority's meeting on Tuesday said there remained a considerable amount of risk to the council’s finances especially due to increased costs and demand for their services.

Among the proposed measures to save money were plans to cut every budget apart from wages by 1% which was predicted by a council report to save £2.5m.

The authority's leader Stephen Simkins said the cuts were not due to financial mismanagement but a prediction that demand would increase in certain areas across the city.

A budget of £320m was set by the council for the current financial year which included using £6m from their reserves to balance their books.

The authority has been forced to make cuts to fill a gap between the income it gets and what it needs to spend with the council forecasting the deficit will grow to £32m in three years time.

Progress had been made over the financial challenges but more work was required to ensure a balanced budget could be set for 2025-26, the council report continued.

The authority is set to increase its charges by 6.7% for the first time since the pandemic, which is expected to bring in £493,000.

A total of £2.2m in one-off grants and other measures will help fill the gap in the current year but will not be replicated in subsequent years, the report for Tuesday's meeting said.

Councillor Simkins predicted an increase in demand for children's services, adults and social care, homeless and temporary accommodation.

“It’s really important that we streamline the authority so that we can deliver for those people," he said.

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