Cotswold District Council leader warns of tough cuts to save money

Councillor Joe Harris spoke at a council meeting on Thursday

A council could go bust unless some "very tough" decisions are made to save money, its leader has warned.

Joe Harris, of Cotswold District Council, spoke after the news of Birmingham City Council effectively going bankrupt, earlier this month.

Although the district council is in a "relatively good position" financially, he warned no local authority was immune.

"We have to plan for the worst case scenario," Mr Harris added.

He told a council meeting that every local authority in the UK had felt the impact of more than a decade of austerity, high energy costs along with ongoing uncertainty in politics.

Decisions over council services were needed, Mr Harris said, otherwise the authority might have to issue its own section 114 bankruptcy notice by 2026/27, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Harris warned that cuts will have to be made if the council was to avoid facing bankruptcy in three years' time

The notice is declared when a council has judged itself to be in financial distress, becoming effectively bankrupt because it can no longer balance its budget.

In that scenario any new spending is restricted, with the exception of protecting vulnerable people, statutory services and pre-existing commitments.

Mr Harris said: "I think it is only right to be honest with residents now, particularly with the news of Birmingham that we face very, very difficult challenges ahead.

"There are going to be services that don't look like they currently do, they might be reduced. There might be services that are no longer provided. There will be services that we need to look at how we change and adapt and transform.

"If we want to avoid what Birmingham is about to go through, what Woking has gone through, what Thanet has gone through, then we have to be absolutely tough and make those really difficult decisions."