William Eichler 05 October 2023

Hampshire County Council on ‘financial cliff edge’

Hampshire County Council on ‘financial cliff edge’ image
Image: Sterling Images / Shutterstock.com.

The leader of Hampshire County Council has warned that cuts to non-essential services and job losses are inevitable as the local authority is facing ‘one of the biggest budget shortfalls in its history’.

The council must find £132m by April 2025 – a shortfall the local authority says is the result of Government funding cuts, rising costs from inflation, and the growing demand for social care services.

The cabinet will meet next week to discuss proposals for balancing the books by the financial year 2025/26.

Council leader Rob Humby warned the county council was on a ‘financial cliff edge’ and said that cuts would ‘inevitably’ be made.

‘For a long time now, we’ve been very clear about the huge budget pressures facing the county council by April 2025, and like many local authorities nationally, our budgets are stretched to breaking point,’ he said.

‘Since the start of national austerity, the county council has had to reduce its spending by over £0.6bn, but year-on-year, our costs have continued to rise dramatically because of major pressures that are outside of our control.’

He added: ‘While our finances are stable until 2025/26, our budget projections tell a different story after the next two years, when we could then start to see a move towards all non-essential spending being withdrawn, and inevitably some job losses across the county council.

‘As we have done in previous savings programmes during more than a decade of national austerity, we would endeavour to do all we can to secure any staff reductions through natural turnover, limiting the need for redundancies wherever possible.’

If this article was of interest, then check out our features, 'Preventing future Section 114 notices', 'How to fix local government finance', and 'Budgetary Breaking Point: Learning from Birmingham’s mistakes'.

SIGN UP
For your free daily news bulletin
Highways jobs

Director of Public Health

Royal Borough of Greenwich
Up to £131,210
The Public Health department is at the heart of the council’s business. Greenwich, London (Greater)
Recuriter: Royal Borough of Greenwich

Head of Regeneration and Growth

Plymouth City Council
£68,387 - £74,411 (MFS and relocation available, pay award pending)
This is a unique opportunity to lead our award-winning development team and directly deliver hundreds of millions of pounds of projects. Plymouth, Devon
Recuriter: Plymouth City Council

Director of Adult Social Care

Wiltshire Council
£119,390 - £127,137
Join us as the Director of Adult Social Care and make a real difference to people’s lives. Wiltshire
Recuriter: Wiltshire Council

Assistant Director Planning, Performance & Engagement

East Sussex County Council
up to £97,700
With strong local communities, unspoilt countryside and vibrant coastal towns, East Sussex offers an exceptional quality of life to many. East Sussex
Recuriter: East Sussex County Council

Director of Finance & Commerce

Lancashire County Council
Up to £114,339
You will play a critical role in driving the organisation through complex change and innovation. Lancashire
Recuriter: Lancashire County Council
Linkedin Banner