Sheffield councillors pessimistic about second wave of Covid-19

The council budget was balanced in March but then Covid-19 hit. Costs of the pandemic for 2020/21 are currently estimated at £82m - but further costs are still emerging, and a second wave could significantly increase these.

Finance officers have stressed that the council is not about to go bankrupt but the medium term is looking rocky.

The council will rely heavily on Government funding which isn't due to be announced until Christmas.

Coun Steve Ayris asked a scrutiny board: "What planning is being done in the unfortunate event of Sheffield going into a local lockdown? What will happen if we have a winter spike or a lockdown?"

Coun Jim Steinke agreed: "I am working on the assumption we are at the start of an 18 month crisis and this may be seen as a pessimistic view but I stand by it."

And Coun Mick Rooney said: "There is an element of fear in all of us that we have spent the last 10 years in austerity and if the government doesn't cover the full cost of Covid expenses, we will be plunged into another round of austerity cuts."

Finance officer Ryan Keyworth said the challenge was trying to predict the extent and impact of a second wave.

"We had no experience of anything similar that we could draw on and a second wave is really an unknown quantity.

"It's very difficult for us to try to guess. We have significant PPE in stock for all services for about three months so it's not the same challenge we faced early on in the crisis."

Deputy Leader Coun Terry Fox said the council had some savings.

"There's a hell of a lot of financial planning going on and our budget has money for a rainy day.

"I'm a pessimist about the second wave so we are taking this very seriously. We have some reserves if we need to use them and we are trying to cover all scenarios."

Thank you to all who support local journalism with a digital or print subscription to The Star. The events of 2020 mean trusted, local journalism is more reliant than ever on your support. We couldn't do it without you. Subscribe here www.thestar.co.uk/subscriptions so we can keep campaigning on your behalf. Stay safe.