Covid: Sheffield Council forecasts £72m budget shortfall

South Yorkshire is to move into the very high alert category on Saturday

A budget shortfall of £72m has been forecast by Sheffield City Council over the next four years, due to the impact of Covid-19 along with other pressures.

Social care pressures, the costs of dealing with coronavirus and the normal costs have added up to create the shortfall, it said in a report.

Director of Finance Ryan Keyworth said the "full impact of the crisis is really not yet known".

It comes as South Yorkshire prepares to move into tier three restrictions.

People living in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield local authority areas will be in the very high alert category from Saturday.

This means, among other things, people are not allowed to meet socially with anybody who is not part of their household, or support bubble, indoors.

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Although a finance package was agreed with the government for £30m to support the region's businesses and £11m for measures such as test and trace, the council said the full extent of future support is not yet known.

As reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Keyworth said: "It's fairly safe to say the gap cannot be met from the council's one-off reserves alone and as a result significant savings are going to be required to balance the council's books over the next few years. 

"We are going on the assumption here that we are not going to receive any additional government funding for that which we have received this year.

"It's what we believe is a sensible approach on which to plan."

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