Swindon facing 'unprecedented' spending cuts

Swindon Council is looking at ways to make £38m in savings

Swindon Borough Council is warning of "unprecedented" cuts in spending on local services next year.

Its leaders have written to the prime minister asking for urgent help, warning of an "uncertain future" for services including libraries and bin collections.

Savings will have to be found in the help provided for vulnerable adults and children as costs spiral.

Ruling Conservatives said a 5% tax rise is "almost certainly" on the cards too.

Through a combination of inflation, an increased living wage, and more people needing the help of council support services, the councillor responsible for budgeting said Swindon was facing "savings on a level we've never seen before."

LISTEN: Swindon's Conservatives set out the scale of the spending cuts on BBC Radio Wiltshire

Conservative Keith Williams, the cabinet member for finance, is expecting to need to save £38m next year, which he said was "unprecedented in the history of Swindon Borough Council".

Unlike most public services - and indeed unlike many businesses - councils are required by law to balance their budgets each April, or effectively declare themselves bankrupt.

Councillor Keith Williams warned local council tax will "almost certainly" rise by the full 4.99%

Mr Williams said some efficiency savings could still be found without making services worse - expect fewer council buildings, expect more services to move online, expect a further push toward things like low energy LED streetlights.

But they are the easy targets.

Also expect difficult changes to waste collections, to libraries, to planning, to school transport - with many services deemed "non-essential" either being cut or pushed toward parish councils instead.

Over the years Swindon has already shed much of its funding and responsibility for leisure, libraries and parks, so its options for further savings are increasingly hard to identify.

Four fifths of Swindon's budget is spent on supporting vulnerable adults and children - "that is actually where we do have to face the majority of our savings," said Mr Williams.

This is why Swindon has now gone public as one of many councils to have written to the prime minister calling for urgent action.

A letter signed by Swindon's Conservative leader David Renard warned the savings "are going to be very unpalatable and will impact on some of the most vulnerable in society".

The letter called for annual increases in funding for social care, as well as more flexibility in how councils are able to raise funds through tax and charges.

"It's a really dire financial situation we're looking at," said the opposition Labour leader Jim Robbins, who acknowledged "there isn't a way of keeping things going without people seeing cuts to services and understanding the council isn't going to be doing some of the things you expect".

He too has called on central government to intervene before it is too late.

Ruling councillors are due to discuss the latest financial picture on Wednesday 7 December.

Expect fewer council buildings in future, with more services moving online or into remaining libraries

Meanwhile neighbouring Wiltshire Council is also going through the motions of deciding how to save tens of millions of pounds next year.

Its far larger size and different structure has allowed it to avoid many of the most controversial cuts made by lots of councils over the past decade - but senior figures there have told the BBC the savings for 2023/4 are looking far more difficult than normal.

All eyes now are on the government's funding settlement for councils, which is due to be published before Christmas.

The Chancellor has already announced allowing a larger council tax rise than usual from April - totalling 4.99% extra on bills - both Wiltshire and Swindon councils have indicated they will struggle to take anything less.

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