Peterborough Council looks at savings to meet £21m budget gap

A council trying to plug a £21.7m budget gap said its challenge had been "significantly increased" by "unprecedented" inflation rates.

Peterborough City Council's finance officers have warned the shortfall for 2023-4 has more than doubled since a forecast of £9.5m in July.

Cabinet member for finance, Andy Coles, said it would plan early to look for potential savings.

"It's a huge challenge, but it's one we know we can meet," he added.

"Our chief executive and senior leadership team is working closely with cabinet and all members to identify ways that we can make savings by reviewing all our contracts to make sure they're providing value for money," he said.

"[We are also] reviewing the need for all our assets and making sure we only keep those we can afford and looking at how we can transform services to deliver them more efficiently."

The Conservatives are the largest single party at the local authority, which is under no overall control.

In March, the council set a budget for the current financial year without any financial support from government, having found savings of £27m to meet a budget of £181.8m.

'Incredibly challenging'

The overall budget for 2023-4 is £192.9m, with expenditure expected to be £214.6m.

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

The first report of the Independent Improvement and Assurance Panel (IIAP), in July, said the authority had moved closer to achieving financial sustainability but added there "was still much work to be done".

Mr Coles added: "The past three years have been incredibly challenging financially for all councils.

"The pandemic placed huge strain on our finances, with the need to provide more services and fewer opportunities to generate income, swiftly followed by the Ukrainian war, soaring rates of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.

"In the same way everything is costing more for our residents, it is for the council, whether it's the cost of filling potholes or the price of fuel for refuse vehicles."

The Cabinet is due to discuss the finance officers' report on 17 October.