Darlington Council leader warns of financial 'black hole'

Darlington Council has already axed free parking and the town's fireworks display as part of new measures

A council faces a financial "black hole" and is monitoring areas of "significant concern", the authority's leader has warned.

Darlington Council boss Stephen Harker said finances were "even worse than we feared" following a review.

A Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition took over the authority in May after four years under the Conservatives.

Jonathan Dulston, leader of the council's Conservative group, said it had built reserves of over £23m.

Concerns over the authority also included overspending in its children's services, with an expected overspend of more than £4m by April, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

However, the number of children in care had increased by 33% since before the Covid pandemic and there were cost pressures nationally, council officials have said.

But rising inflation and budget cuts under the former administration were also blamed by the Labour and Lib Dem coalition.

'Worse than feared'

Mr Harker, who is Darlington's Labour leader, said the former administration "knew they needed to take action".

"But they didn't. In 2023, they set a four-year budget that would overspend by over £7.5m per year and see the council run out of money," he said.

"We are sorry to say that after being able to inspect the council's finances more closely, they are even worse than we feared."

Since May, a firework display and free parking charges in the town centre have been axed, with Mr Harker saying the council required stability.

However, Mr Dulston, the council's former leader, accused the coalition of not having their own budget plans in place.

"It's disappointing to see that Labour don't have a financial plan of their own and have decided to run with the budget we set for this year instead of producing their own emergency budget," he said.

A consultation on further cost-cutting measures is expected to take place next year.