Northumberland Council has offered all of its staff the option of voluntary redundancy as it attempts to rein in a predicted £12m budget overspend.
An email to every staff member from interim chief executive Rick O’Farrell said the council could not simply call upon reserves to cover its 2022-23 shortfall so it was reopening its voluntary redundancy scheme.
The overspend has been attributed to external factors such as inflation and increasing costs.
A budget gap of £17m has been brought down to £12m with the use of funds put aside to deal with inflationary pressures.
The council is currently looking at every service area to find savings and how it can ‘work differently to try and develop year-on-year savings’.
A council spokesperson said: ‘As a responsible council, we have a legal duty to set a balanced budget and ensure sound financial management.
'That is why we carry out rigorous budget monitoring throughout the year and are taking action now to mitigate against further overspend.’
This article originally appeared on The MJ (£).
