Warrington Borough Council is forecasting an £18.7m overspend for 2023/24 as at the end of Q3, with a range of options being considered to balance its books.
Among these, the authority could dispose of more assets and accelerate a review of its capital programme “to determine to what extent schemes can be re-phased, deferred or stopped to reduce the cost of borrowing to the council and to free-up capital receipts”.
Warrington might also consider increasing discretionary fees and charges and pursuing a “sustained reduction” in agency staff costs, according to a budget monitoring report to be considered at a cabinet meeting next week (11 March).
Savings and cost reduction proposals are already being considered across the council to offset the overspend, which the report called a “significant financial challenge”.
The report added: “Action is required to address and change forecast overspends in 2023-24. Focused review of overspends, notably within adult and children’s social care, is currently being undertaken.”
At the start of the year the annual savings target to meet the 2023/24 budget gap was £13.6m, with £1.6m of that now considered unachievable.
The budget monitoring report noted that Warrington has a “robust” reserves position, but that reserves can only be used once.
The adequacy of the council’s reserves will remain “under review”.
Danny Mather, head of corporate finance at Warrington Borough Council, will be part of a treasury panel at Room151’s Local Authority Treasurers Investment Forum North (LATIF North) conference in York on 19 March. The panel will discuss how high interest rates are influencing investment and borrowing strategies. There is still time to register to attend the event, which you can do here.
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