Budget: Sheffield Council runs out of reserves as it faces financial cliff edge and service cuts

A senior finance officer said Sheffield Council has used all of its reserves already, adding pressure on councillors to make big service cuts to balance the budget.
Molly Williams
By Molly Williams
Published 28th Jul 2022, 13:54 BST
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Ryan Keyworth, director of finance, said the £25 million set aside to manage budget overspends is now gone in the latest meeting of the finance sub-committee.

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He said: “The overspends that we are seeing are almost all related to the delivery of budget implementation plans, so exactly the challenges we foresaw when we put the £25 million reserves on one side to manage risk but nonetheless, to have them spoken for at this relatively early stage in the year is not an ideal place to be to put it mildly.”

Ryan Keyworth, Sheffield Council's director of finance, said the council has run out of reserves to use as it prepares its budget for next year.Ryan Keyworth, Sheffield Council's director of finance, said the council has run out of reserves to use as it prepares its budget for next year.
Ryan Keyworth, Sheffield Council's director of finance, said the council has run out of reserves to use as it prepares its budget for next year.
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He added: “This is the only year we are going to be able to put aside £25 million in reserves].

“That means the budget implementation plans for 2023/24 that we are currently developing are going to have to be far more robust and to a much higher standard in terms of the cash delivery that is expected.

“It’s quite likely that I’m going to reject some of the budget implementation plans as they come forward simply on that basis.”

Mr Keyworth said there is now a £20.4 million overspend forecast for this year. This is up from £19 million last month and £18 million the month before.

Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, leader of Sheffield Liberal Democrats outside Sheffield Town Hall in the city centre.Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, leader of Sheffield Liberal Democrats outside Sheffield Town Hall in the city centre.
Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, leader of Sheffield Liberal Democrats outside Sheffield Town Hall in the city centre.
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Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, leader of Sheffield Liberal Democrats and member of the committee, said there were £15 million worth of savings offered last year that Labour and the Green Party decided not to take that are now likely to be on the table again soon. This included cutting expensive home packages for social care.

He said: “Basically we are now in the situation that without major reductions in spends or finding different ways of generating income we are going to be in trouble.

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“After this £25 million we don’t have any other unallocated cash reserves to cover this year’s overspend.

“We are not even halfway through and the alarm bells are being sounded in a very coded way by a senior finance officer who basically warned the committee.”

Related topics:Sheffield CouncilShaffaq MohammedGreen PartyNHS