Council leader defends bankruptcy warnings

The leader of Coventry City Council has defended warning the public that the local authority could be at risk of being declared effectively bankrupt.

Councillors have voted to approve a plan to plug a £20m gap in its finances this year.

The budget includes a 4.99% rise in council tax, and cuts to street lighting and school bus routes.

The Labour-run council has repeatedly warned it is at risk of a section 114 notice.

A section 114 is a report issued by a council's finance officer when they believe the local authority's income will not cover its costs for the next year.

It is a sign of financial distress, and it means a council cannot make new spending commitments, must come back with a new balanced budget within 21 days.

At a meeting to sign off the budget, the Conservative opposition group's deputy leader Peter Male said it was "not accurate to say that this council faces a section 114 notice".

Mr Male said Labour councillors had "muddied the waters in an attempt to blame all of their woes on the government".

"In truth, they have damaged our city, telling the world that we are bust," he said.

But council leader George Duggins said warnings about the risk of a section 114 were no exaggeration.

"This was not to frighten people. This was not put put people off investing in the city. It was a signposting of a general possibility," he said.

The Labour-controlled council has blamed its "financial crisis" on years of under-funding by central government, high demand for services and rising costs.

It is planning to make £8.4m in service savings after a majority of councillors voted to pass the budget on Tuesday.

There were protests against service cuts outside the Council House in Coventry as councillors debated the budget.

There are plans to switch off 70% of overnight street lighting, increase parking charges in the city centre, and charge £40 a year for the collection of garden waste.

Funding is being pulled for five home-to-school bus routes, and travel support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is being reviewed.

The 13 Conservative councillors at the meeting voted against the budget, after their party's alternative proposals for making savings were rejected.

They heckled Mr Duggins as he railed against "austerity" under the Conservatives in central government.

The Conservative group put forward a plan to fix potholes, and maintain the school bus services the council wants to cut for another 12 months.

Tory councillors say there has been outcry from parents, and Labour MP for Coventry South Zarah Sultana had said she was concerned about the proposal to pull funding for the bus services.

The council says it is open to looking at alternative funding options before the buses are stopped in September.

At the budget meeting, Richard Brown, the council's cabinet member for finance, said: "We want to be inclusive around schools.

"We have six months to sort this out. There's no reason for a further 12 months on top of that."