Nottinghamshire Council needs to find £24m to balance books next year

The shortfall could be made up through savings and council tax increases, the cabinet member for finance has indicated.

Cost rises include rising fees to place children into foster care, surging prices for major projects, record-high gas, electricity and fuel, and a projected pay rise for council workers, costing an estimated £1,925 per employee.

However, the authority’s leader has said the council is not in financial ‘armageddon’ and can weather the storm of both ongoing and future challenges.

It means the Conservative-led council could need to take ‘difficult’ decisions in balancing its books next year.

READ MORE: Ashfield Council faces £3m shortfall and all the ‘easy options’ to claw back cash have been taken.

Coun Richard Jackson, county council portfolio holder for finance, revealed similar pressures are being faced at County Hall.

He confirmed the authority needs to find £59m between 2023 and 2026, with £24m needed in 2023/24 alone.

He said this will be made up through savings and tax rises, but called for the Government to bring forward a fair funding review to help the authority in managing its budgets and to provide more cash.

He said: “It will come through a combination of savings and council tax. We’re mindful, in the current circumstances, people are relying on our services more than ever.

“We’re looking at whatever we can do to assess how we deliver them without reducing services.

“Certainly, local government generally needs more money from central government.”

Coun Ben Bradley, council leader and member for Mansfield North, and Mansfield MP, said changes to the way services are managed could include a shift in focus on areas like children’s services and social care back into a community setting.

This would include the authority being ‘more preventative’ to reduce demand for acute services.

He said: “Nobody thinks this is easy, the cost of things has gone up by up to 10 per cent and we don’t have that cash – and that’s not just councils, that’s everybody.

“But I don’t want residents to think they should be worried because we have a responsibility to ensure that’s not the case.

“There are certainly councils in a much worse financial state than Nottinghamshire and I’m not going to stand up and say it’s ‘armageddon’ because it’s not.”