Council 'will cut everything' if £42m bid refused

There would have to be an emergency consultation about additional cuts to services without the government funding, the council has said

A council is waiting to find out if a £42.2m emergency funding bid is granted after warning it would have to "cut pretty much everything" without it.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has asked the government to help it fill an £11.5m budget gap and invest in making services more efficient.

The council has to set a balanced budget before 11 March.

Without the funding, it has warned all services it does not legally have to provide face cuts, including including leisure centres, museums, libraries and CCTV.

'Build financial resilience'

A decision on the exceptional financial support (EFS) is not expected until early March, but the council has had a letter from the government to say it will support the authority in setting a balanced budget.

Without the money, the council has said it would have to use its reserves to plug the budget gap and make further cuts to services.

The requested £42.2m would include £24m for social care placements, £6 million for investment in early intervention, £9.5m for "financial resilience" including redundancy costs, and £2.2m for interest payments.

If the EFS is granted, the council plans to pay it back by selling buildings and land over the next five years.

The council is to receive an additional £2.5m as part of a £600m funding package for local government in England. This amount has been subtracted from the council’s EFS request.

The local authority's current budget proposals include £8m of cuts, of which £3.4m required public consultation, as well as a 4.99% council tax rise.

Proposals include a new £40 annual charge for garden waste bins, stopping cultural grants, and reducing library opening hours.

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