Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council vows to end draw on reserves

Councillor Mike Cox said the council's financial performance had moved out of the "relegation zone"

A council has vowed to stop draining its reserves to pay for services.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council had been "living beyond its means", its chief executive and finance director said.

Chief executive Graham Farrant said the authority had taken £31m from reserves each year for three years to keep service levels "artificially high".

Councillor Mike Cox, in charge of finance, said money would be saved by cutting services and "efficiencies".

The cuts would affect families using "day services and early help", he said.

The council has said it will stop funding the annual Bournemouth Air Festival

The council is also withdrawing funding for the Bournemouth Air Festival after this year's event, as well as for Kings Park plant nursery and paddling pools.

It said it would cut Community Safety Accredited Officers, reduce grass cutting and may allow some libraries to close.

Finance director Adam Richens said more than 150 jobs would be lost.

In a report to councillors outlining next year's budget, Mr Richens and Mr Farrant said the authority "was living beyond its means with a £30m annual structural deficit".

They said the council was "technically insolvent" because its reserves were not enough to cover an overspend on children with special needs.

However, they said the deficit could be ignored for two years without provoking a bankruptcy notice.

BCP Council was formed in 2019 by the merger of three coastal authorities

Mr Cox, a Liberal Democrat, said: "This budget puts us in a far better position than what we were.

"In May, we were in the relegation zone of councils... Now we're mid-table, if not heading to promotion."

The authority said its creation in 2019 from the merger of councils in the three coastal towns had saved £82m.

A Conservative minority administration was in charge of BCP Council from 2020 to 2023, when a Liberal Democrat-led alliance took control.

In August 2023, a government Best Value Notice said the council had previously held "acrimonious" meetings and had an "unrealistic" budget plan.

Former Conservative council leader Philip Broadhead said it was true that reserves had reduced since 2019, from £85m to £45m.

However, he said his Tory group had used underspends to help balance the books, which he said were now being "mischievously characterised as reserves".

He added: "Last year we increased unearmarked reserves to help in the challenges ahead."