Rotherham Council's savings plan in face of £9m budget blackhole

The council say they can balance the books for now- but will have to use its reserves to cover for 2023/24, and potentially into 2025/26.

Finance bosses say the deficit is largely due to pressures in children and adult social care, school transport, rising food costs for school catering, increased demand for homelessness services, covid recovery, and rising property costs.

£7.1m remains to be delivered across 2023/24 and 2024/25, with £4.4m to bedelivered by the end of 2023/24 and the full £7.1m by the end of 2024/25.

A report to the council’s overview and scrutiny management board states that ‘there have been continuing financial challenges as a result of global factors, with inflation remaining high and impacting costs, in particular impacting food prices and the costs of materials/goods and so impacting repairs, maintenance and transport costs.

‘School meals provision is also being hit by significant additional costs inrelation to food prices

‘Work has commenced with strategic directors to consider both possible investments as well as opportunities for scaling back some operations, reducing or delaying non-essential expenditure.

‘The focus of savings and cost reductions at present is on the current financial year position.

‘The 2025/26 position is however a challenge with a funding gap of £6m, as a result of a budget gap of £1.7m that already existed at the time of setting the 2023/24 budget, home to school transport projected £3m and school meals service pressures £1.5m.’