Barnsley Council facing £10m funding black hole as the authority faces ‘difficult choices’

A finance report to BMBC’s council states that the authority faces a gap of £10m in 24/25 with at least a further £15m in the next two years.

Finance bosses are particularly concerned that ‘difficult decisions’ may have to be made, such as increases in council tax, rents, and disposing of underutilised assets.

Although BMBC has drawn on its reserves in previous years to bridge the gap, as councils need to deliver a balanced budget, the report adds that “this is not sustainable in the longer term because once those reserves have been used, they are gone.”

“If there are any further unanticipated shocks to the global economy, there is little by way of headroom to cushion the blow, meaning potentially even more tough decisions than were seen during the decade of austerity,” it adds.

"As a consequence of the continued high levels of service demand and the rising cost of delivering services to the quality that the people of Barnsley deserve and have come to expect, together with a local government funding system that provides insufficient funding to address these pressures, the Council spent £10Mmore than originally anticipated in 22/23, with the forecast pressure for this year anticipated to be in the region of £23M”.

BMBC’s 24/25 budget will be presented to full council for approval on the 29th of February.