Somerset County Council has questioned the usefulness of CIPFA’s proposed financial resilience index.
In a report to councillors, officers said: “In terms of value to Somerset, we would have to comment that this simple RAG index would at best be of limited use.
“As with any competent local authority, senior leaders and finance officers at the county council are obviously acutely aware of the financial situation that we face and are taking the necessary steps to achieve financial sustainability.”
The report said that the index would only serve to fuel “not helpful” speculation in the press about which local authority might be next to get into financial difficulties.
Earlier this month, Somerset approved £13m of major cuts to services.
