Cash-strapped Peterborough City Council declares £4.5m underspend

The Conservatives were previously in a minority administration on Peterborough City Council before the election

A council forced to severely restrict its spending is on course to make a £4.5m underspend, a report said.

Peterborough City Council was warned by government last year about the state of its financial health after revealing a £27m funding gap for 2022-2023.

In November 2021, the authority set itself the task to make £10m cuts to its 2022-2023 budget.

The Conservative-run council's net budget net approved budget for 2022-2023 is £181.8m.

The previous year it was £187.3m.

In February 2021, Peterborough was one of four councils in England that the government agreed could be given emergency funding because they were unable to balance their books.

The latest report by the council's Independent Improvement and Assurance Panel (IIAP) said the authority had moved closer to achieving financial sustainability but added there "was still much work to be done".

The £4.5m underspend was found after projected costs associated with the pandemic were lower in 2021-2022 than originally estimated, the report said.

Peterborough City Council said last year that its plans for the city represented a "balanced budget"

In response to the IIAP report, council leader Wayne Fitzgerald said: "This report really does confirm what we believed to be the case and that is we are making good progress, but we are not yet out of the woods."

In May 2022, as part of efforts to cut spending, the council said it would stop planting flowers in beds and baskets to save £50,000 a year.

Other cuts led to the Werrington Leisure Centre remaining closed and fewer street cleaning operations.

Social care for children and adults accounts for more than 65% of the council's budget.

Mr Fitzgerald said in November that he wanted to "manage down" demand for social care. with people taking more responsibility for relatives' social care.

Following May's local elections, the Conservative Party has remained in charge despite not having a majority.