Calderdale facing cash crisis with £30m shortfall to fund its services

Leader of Calderdale Council, Coun Tim Swift (Lab, Town) is one of the local authority leaders who have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying Government needs to provide the extra funding or vital services will have to be cut in the year ahead.

The council’s Cabinet will also discuss the financial impications of meeting these challenges when it meets in virtual form via the council’s YouTube channel next Monday, April 27, from 6pm.

In his letter to Mr Johnson, Coun Swift says that in just a few short weeks the council has spent an addtional £2.7 million on its immediate response to the crisis, while at the same time suffering a severe loss of income – at least £2 million – from fees, business rates and Council Tax, sources of funding expected to fall further.

Coun Swift said he welcomed £6.1 million funding the council has been given by Government to support it but says it is not enough and more financial help must be forthcoming to avert a cash crisis.

“Looking ahead, our officers estimate that the net impact over the next year is likely to be at least £36 million.

“Taking account of the £6.1 million received so far, this leaves us facing a potential shortfall of £30 million – amounting to almost 20 per cent of our net budget of £159 million.

“Without extra funding, we will rapidly reach a position where we have no choice but to cut back drastically on vital services that local people need and deserve,” he says.

Coun Swift says the council, having had to find well over £100 million of savings in the last decade, “simply cannot afford to take responsibility for this additional spending”, with Calderdale also still recovering from severe flooding in February which also carries a cost.

“I am sorry to have to write to you bluntly, but if the Government fails to honour your previous commitments to deliver the extra funding councils are relying on, you will be failing the vulnerable people we are striving to protect and letting down the incredible front line staff who are literally putting their lives on the line to protect us,” he said.

In the meantime, Cabinet are being asked to approve officers preparing for all eventualities, including implementing and speeding up delivery of agreed savings, reviewing all its discretionary spending and work on reshaping the council towards a business critical only delivery model.