Nottingham City Council is facing a financial crisis that could result in more than 500 jobs being cut. A report released on Monday revealed a £50m budget shortfall for 2024-25, which means many key services are in line for cuts or reviews. The council has already issued a section 114 notice – an announcement that new spending has been stopped temporarily – due to a £23m overspend in 2023-24, primarily caused by an increase in the cost of social care, among other factors.
The council said it would endeavour to limit the number of compulsory redundancies, while targeted voluntary redundancy would be offered and support would be provided to those affected. The council added that it will review its library service provision, withdraw its contribution to some grants to charity and cultural organisations, reduce overall capacity in its adult social care assessment function, remove some council subsidised grants and minimise its public transport infrastructure to statutory provision, among other measures.
Commenting on the proposals, David Mellen, leader of Nottingham City Council, said that the “budget pressures we are seeing are unlikely to reduce next year and like many councils, we are facing a serious gap in our budget for 2024-25.” Mellen added: “This means officers have had to put forward proposals for significant savings and service reductions which no-one would want to make but have to be considered by councillors if the council is to meet its legal requirement to set a balanced budget. The proposals include some valued services and funding that we have been able to continue to provide in Nottingham but have already been stopped by many other councils.”
The council also highlighted a £97m annual reduction in its Revenue Support Grant from the UK government since 2013-14. Nottingham has already proposed a 4.99% rise in council tax, which includes a 2% adult social care precept. Mellen said that this was the most difficult period he had ever faced, and that “councils across the country are not receiving the money they need to have to run the services that government expect us to run.
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