Lost income from Covid impacting finances on Calderdale Council budget

Lower levels of income from services like sports, leisure activities and parking charges because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are impacting on finances, councillors heard.
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Calderdale Council’s Strategy and Performance Scrutiny Board were receiving an update on the council’s financial position.

Head of Finance, Nigel Broadbent, said the council had a £9.5 million overspend, of which £5.2 million was from the effect of the pandemic and funding given for the purpose had been put aside for this.

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Of the remaining amount, and factoring in £1.1 million in extra social care grants given by the Government, department directors were confident they could reduce that further to £1.5 million by the end of the council hear next April.

Lost income of council servicesLost income of council services
Lost income of council services

Budget challenge meetings involving directorate heads and Cabinet members aimed to reduce that to as close to zero as possible, said Mr Broadbent.

Biggest budget pressures remain items out of its control, such as packages for all-age disability clients, looked-after children costs, and transport requirements for children with special needs and disabilities, for example.

Coun Susan Press (Lab, Todmorden) said it was worrying the council was not getting the income it used to from sources which had been hit by the pandemic and changing behaviour resulting from it, leaving the council challenges.

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“Some of these issues are going to be irreconcilable – has any modelling being done, or number crunching?” she said.

Mr Broadbent said issues like this would need to be considered as part of the council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy which was coming soon and would need to take into account that, for example, parking income was not going to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Currently this was 60 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and might reach 80 per cent next year.

Budget challenges would have to address the issue, for example should charges be increased, different charges looked at or alternative savings found from somewhere else, he said.

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Cabinet member for Resources, Coun Silvia Dacre (Lab, Todmorden) reminded members that increases in parking charges, about which any decisions had not yet been made, could only be used in relation to highways.

Board Chair Coun Ashley Evans (Lib Dem, Warley) wanted to know if savings agreed in previous years were being made.

Mr Broadbent said some would not appear just yet – Director of Adult Services and Wellbeing, Iain Baines, was confident savings which could be made on social care would be delivered, for example, but would not be seen this year.

Coun Evans said early interventions were of cruicial importance to making savings across directorates as if they were not achieved led to more expense down the line.

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Mr Broadbent said the council tried to ensure resources it had were put into that “front end.”

Coun Steven Leigh (Con, Ryburn) reminded councillors available general reserves were down to £5 million, a figure below which they could not go.

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