Cambridge City Council faces £6m budget cuts

Cambridge City Council has said it needs to make £6m in savings over the next three years and £11.1m in new savings by 2029

A local authority has said it needs to make an extra £6m in cuts over the next three years and £11.1m in new cuts by 2029.

Cambridge City Council revealed that the cost was in addition to £13m it had already saved over the last five years.

The Labour-run council said some of the financial challenges was due to rising housing costs.

The council said it was looking at ways to reduce costs and still deliver quality core services.

The authority's budget for the current financial year 2023-24 was £22.017m, also known as its net general fund spending requirement.

In the council's Medium Term Financial Strategy it acknowledged the city had been ranked "the most intensive science and technological cluster in the world".

But the "attendant growth in investment and jobs locally" led to challenges that included rising housing costs, traffic congestion and harm to the environment, as well as government funding cuts to the public sector.

'Extremely challenging'

The financial report also highlighted ways in which the council could adopt more technology to modernise its services.

It said it would help it make a £4m saving each year contributing towards the £11.1m saving requirement - which they have called Our Cambridge.

Simon Smith, executive councillor for finance and resources, said: "The financial picture facing the council continues to be extremely challenging due to lack of government funding to councils and a range of external pressures.

"The council's priorities are to provide safety nets for those in greatest need, deliver more affordable housing, secure good growth that benefits all residents and address the climate change and biodiversity crises."

The council has invited residents, voluntary groups and businesses to attend a public consultation on 21 November.

It hoped the meeting would provide a better picture on "what services are valued and the approaches we should take to find savings".

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: "We have made £5.1bn of extra funding available to local authorities through the Local Government Finance Settlement.

"For Cambridge City Council, this represents an increase in core spending power of up to £0.8m or 4.5% - making available a total of up to £19.0m in 2023-24.

"Councils are ultimately responsible for the management of their own finances, but we continue to monitor pressures on all councils and we stand ready to talk to any council that is concerned about its financial position."