Derbyshire Times news bulletin 28th November

Derbyshire Times news bulletin with editor Phil Bramley

Transcript

00:00Yesterday's Derbyshire Times video bulletin. A cash-strapped Derbyshire Council's budget

00:06is spiralling in the wrong direction and is now forecast to overspend by a further £8

00:11million to £28 million, edging the authority towards effective bankruptcy. A new report

00:18shows that Derbyshire County Council is now forecast to overspend its £741 million budget

00:24by more than £28 million, increasing from the £20 million forecast in the first quarter

00:28of the year. It is now predicted an overall budget spend of £769 million, £28.1 million

00:36more than it had set money aside for. The Council now needs to make £30.4 million in

00:42cuts this year to meet a balanced budget, as well as tackling this £28 million overspend,

00:48leaving it having to find around £60 million from either further cuts or from its own reserves.

00:54A report from Mark Kenyon, Finance Director, and Emma Alexander, Managing Director, says

00:59that the Council now needs to take corrective action. The report makes clear that if the

01:04Council cannot reach a balanced budget through savings and reserves, the Chief Financial

01:08Officer will issue a section 114 notice, declaring effective bankruptcy, which would mean that

01:14there would be a freeze on all new spending and possible central government intervention

01:19to help right the ship, typically involving commissioners. In response, the Council is

01:24again pausing recruitment where appropriate, freezing or deleting vacant posts, reviewing

01:29its use of agency staff, and reducing its spending on procurements to focus only on

01:34essential areas. The local authority has not said yet if this budget issue will lead to

01:39job losses, but says the impact on the workforce is being monitored. It has also set up a Budget

01:45Commission of Cross-Party Leadership, chaired by Council Leader Barry Lewis, which will

01:50meet for the first time in December to assess the causes of the significant increased costs

01:55being experienced by the Council.