Calderdale Council facing £18.7m budget gap - more than double last projected shortfall
Calderdale Council is facing a projected £18.7m budget gap within three years.
The shortfall has more than doubled since the last projection.
The previous financial plan had projected a shortfall of £6.8m by 2028/29, but that is set to grow to £30.1m in the same period before coming back down to £18.7m by 2029/30.
The local authority has warned of cuts, while blaming mounting pressures in children’s social care, adult social care, and special educational needs provision.
Cabinet papers also show the council overspend for 2025/26 was £7.9m, but this is projected to come down to £5.3m for 2026/27.
The majority of the projected overspend will come in Adults and Wellbeing at £4.586m, with Children and Young People’s Services accounting for £992,000; Public Services at £186,000; Resources and Transformation at £164,000; Chief Executives at £83,000; and Regeneration and Strategy at £35,000.
Centrally controlled budgets are forecast to be £511,000 under budget.
A key reason for the revised financial plan is lower council tax income, because fewer new homes are being built than previously expected.
The council report states: “Based upon the current estimates there is a net deficit forecast for 2026/27. This is primarily relating to the assumed level of growth in dwellings and due to the assumed reduction in single person discount not materialising.
“There has been some progress to the increase in new homes being completed, a slowing down is now taking effect on the council tax income assumptions, a detailed analysis of potential future housing growth needs to be undertaken.”
The report puts the projected collection fund deficit at £2.9m.
Last month, leader of the now Reform-led council Daniel Sutherland pledged not to put up council tax by the maximum of 4.99 per cent.
If that pledge is carried out, council revenues would reduce even further.
Last Friday, the former cabinet member for Planning, Housing and Environment, who defected to Reform after 15 years as a Labour councillor, said the council will focus on what matters most to local people.
“Times are tough and council finances are stretched,” he said.
"The budgeting process is about prioritising spend and getting the best value out of every pound in the public purse.
“We will use the medium term financial plan as the basis to prioritise investment. It helps us estimate what resources are available to deliver for Calderdale.”
The papers also show the projections account for ‘budgetary pressures’ of £5m, £7.5m, and £9m over the next three years, with rising care home (664 to 698 people ), mental health (up 31 per cent), and disability placements (up nine per cent) given as key reasons.
The ‘SEND High Needs Deficit’ charge of £11.2m is the reason for a large jump to £30.1m in 2028/29, though ‘it is assumed’ the government will continue to provide a recovery grant to partially fund the deficits.
The report also allows for ‘future inflation’ of £8m in 2029/30.
The new financial plan will be discussed at the cabinet meeting on November 9, which will inform the new budget to be set at the annual budget council meeting on March 1, 2027.