Cornwall Council calls for more financial support

Councillor David Harris said Cornwall was in a better position than many councils, but "cannot go on like this."

Cornwall Council has written to the government calling for more financial support.

Wednesday's cabinet meeting highlighted local government finances as being "under strain like never before".

The latest performance report showed the authority's projected overspend for the year had almost doubled to £14.9m.

Councillor David Harris said Cornwall was in a better position than many councils, but "cannot go on like this."

Mr Harris said he had written to the government in "fairly blunt terms" to express the council's concerns about the financial sustainability of local government in general - and Cornwall in particular.

In the council meeting he said: "If nothing changes, councils are facing a funding gap of  £4bn over the next two years just to keep services at current levels."

He added: "We have strong reserves and an excellent finance team to keep eyes on this. However, we cannot go on like this, demand for those services that we have a statutory obligation to provide just continues to increase."

Certainty on finance

Speaking to BBC Radio Cornwall on Thursday council leader Linda Taylor highlighted that adult social care and school transport were two areas with that faced a growing demand.

Ms Taylor said that the services needed to be delivered in a more "effective and efficient way", but would not involve job cuts.

She emphasised the need for longer term insights on local authority funding.

Ms Taylor said: "We're here to ignite the Cornish economy and we need that certainty on finance."

At the meeting, the cabinet also approved the outline business case for new sports and community facilities at Langarth Garden Village.

The plans will see the land formerly earmarked for the Stadium for Cornwall allocated for the construction of a new Truro Community Sports Hub.

The hub will provide a permanent home for Truro City Football Club, as well as facilities for use by residents and other sports clubs in Cornwall.