Medway Council has ordered staff to stop all spending that does not contribute directly to delivering statutory services.
A letter from chief executive Neil Davies and chief finance officer Phil Watts was leaked to news website Kent Online.
The letter says that the moratorium is being introduced due to an expected overspend on this year’s budget of more than £7m.
It says: “In the past we have had sufficient reserves to balance out our overspends and we have benefitted from one-off actions and windfall, including around £6m we received last year through the 100% business rates pilot scheme.
“We simply do not have those options available to us this year and it is therefore absolutely vital that each and every one of us working for Medway Council does our part in upholding the moratorium imposed to stop all expenditure that does not directly deliver a statutory service to the public.”
