Labour refuses to back cuts at 'bankrupt' Nottingham City Council

Campaigners protested against the proposed cuts in Nottingham city centre earlier

Senior Labour councillors have refused to back cuts as Nottingham City Council looks to close a £53m budget gap.

The council declared itself effectively bankrupt in November, warning it would not be able to balance its books this financial year.

Council officers have since proposed wide-ranging cuts to jobs and services and a 5% rise in council tax.

But the authority's Labour-run executive declined to endorse them at a meeting earlier.

David Mellen said there would be further discussion before the council's budget meeting on 4 March

Labour council leader David Mellen said his party could not "in all conscience" recommend the proposed budget, which includes 554 full-time equivalent job losses.

Mr Mellen, who previously admitted the council's past mistakes had contributed to the financial crisis, claimed the cuts proposed had been insisted upon by an improvement board, appointed by the government to help run the council.

The council is legally obliged to set a balanced budget and all councillors will vote on a final package of cuts on 4 March.

The current proposals include savings on youth services, community centres, the libraries service and public transport.

However, Mr Mellen said there would be further discussions with officers about amendments to the proposed cuts in the coming weeks.

The council has blamed government funding cuts for the crisis

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said next year's predicted £53m budget hole came on top of a gap of £23m in the current financial year, which led to the council's chief finance officer issuing a section 114 notice halting most new council spending.

A consultation on the council's budget plans ran between December and January, during which more than 5,400 people responded.

In response, officers managed to change the proposals in "small ways", including finding money to retain Linkbus services, including Easylink, keeping real-time information at bus stops as well as saving the Queens Drive and Racecourse Park and Ride sites from closure.

However, even with the savings, the council said the budget gap could not be filled and it asked for "exceptional financial support" from the government last month.

During Tuesday's executive board meeting, Labour councillors said high inflation, caused by the Liz Truss Conservative government, soaring costs and demand in social care and homelessness - and reduced government funding, by about £100m a year since 2013, was to blame for the council's financial woes.

The government has said Labour's mismanagement of the council finances, including the failure of the council-run firm Robin Hood Energy, were at fault.

Labour's executive met earlier ahead of a full council budget meeting on 4 March