Leicestershire County Council warns of 'dire' £100m funding gap

Leicestershire County Council has warned a "dire" financial situation could see its spending outstrip its income by more than £100m by 2027.

The council has identified £62m of savings to plug the funding gap but said that would not be enough even with "significant" future council tax rises.

The authority said it would be impossible to balance the books without cutting frontline services.

Senior councillors have renewed a call for more help from the government.

They met Local Government Minister Lee Rowley earlier this month and urged him to give the 32 lowest funded councils in England, which include Leicestershire, an extra £350m as a short-term measure to ease the pressure.

Mr Rowley said the conversation was "very helpful".

A recent report by council finance officers said the £100m deficit represented a fifth of its total spending power.

The report said challenges included inflation, increasing demand for adult and children's social care and the mounting cost of supporting youngsters with special educational needs.

It added: "Any non-statutory services, or those where service levels are above statutory minimum levels, will need to be considered for reduction or for being stopped following appropriate consultation being undertaken."

County council leader Nick Rushton told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the council was not in a position where it would have to declare itself effectively 'bankrupt' as Birmingham City Council did this month by halting all new spending.

However, he said: "Even with us being super-efficient, decisive and not ducking difficult decisions, you can see that things are dire for us.

"We're super-efficient and pride ourselves on doing the best we can with the money we have, but spiralling costs are making it much harder to keep our head above water.

"With many other well-run authorities also facing similar pressures, local government is reaching new territory."

Mr Rowley said: "I welcomed and am grateful for the very helpful conversation we had on the council's funding and the pressure that the council is currently seeing in some service areas.

"I look forward to our continuing engagement in the months ahead."

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].