Coronavirus: Local councils face 'significant' deficits

Kent County Council says it is facing a shortfall of £40m

Councils across Kent and Medway say they are facing a £245m deficit as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Twelve district councils say they expect a £155m shortfall and Kent County Council predicts a £40m deficit.

Medway Council said it faced a shortfall of about £40m, the Local Democracy Reporting Service has reported.

The councils are facing loss of income from car parking, business rates, housing revenue and council tax.

Kent County Council's cabinet member for finance, Peter Oakford, told the council's scrutiny committee the deficits were "significant".

He said: "If sufficient government funding is not forthcoming, it will be necessary to utilise a proportion of general reserves to balance the budget in the current year."

The deficits come despite the government providing about £96m to Kent's local authorities, including £66m for the county council; £14m for Medway and £15m for the 12 districts, including Sevenoaks, Maidstone, Ashford and Thanet.

The 14 councils have made £129m extra spending commitments to key services, but simultaneously face income losses of about £212m over the next 12 months, according to Kent County Council.

The losses include £110m of council tax; £47m from fees and charges, such as £3m from car parking, £26m in business rates and £6.6m of housing revenue, the county council's committee was told.