Council chiefs forced to cut extra £2m by March

Council chiefs need to save a further £2.5million by the end of the financial year.

The Revenue and Capital Budget Update 2019/20 was discussed at the latest meeting of Sefton Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee last week.

The committee considered the report by the head of corporate resources that provided forecasts for revenue position, council tax and business rates.

Significant pressures had been identified in several service areas, particularly Children’s Social Care, Locality Services and Home to School Transport – and the latest forecast of service expenditure indicated an over- spend, while the budgets may ‘experience further pressure’ in the future.

The report states: “There is currently a budget shortfall of £2.515m forecast for 2019/20 and mitigating actions have been identified in order to address this.