Bedford Borough Council’s mayor said the authority would “get out of” its financial difficulties despite opposition concerns.
During a meeting of the Finance and Improvement Committee on Wednesday (June 3), finance portfolio holder cllr Marc Frost said he had seen the council’s early April figures and told councillors: “The shortfall is currently in the region of £5 million.”
He said most of the pressure was within Children’s Services, but added that work was underway to address the position.
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Cllr Frost (Conservative, Wixams and Wilstead) told the committee he remained confident that directorates would be on budget by the end of the financial year.
The discussion began after Liberal Democrat group leader cllr Henry Vann (De Parys) asked about what he described as the “black hole” in the council’s finances and sought clarification about the overall scale of the financial challenge facing the authority.
Cllr Vann outlined his own calculation of the council’s financial challenge, which included planned savings, previously undelivered savings and exceptional financial support from central government.
“So we’ve got savings in [the] year of £18.2 million… we’ve got the £1.6 million undelivered from last year, and we’ve got the £25 million exceptional financial support from central government as well,” he said.
“So that means the gap in this year is £44.8 million – if you’re adding all of these things together.”
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Cllr Vann added that his calculations over two years come to “about £58.2 million”.
“We need to have that understanding ourselves of just how serious this situation is,” he said.
Independent cllr Doug McMurdo (Sharnbrook) said he had been given “external advice” on the issue.
“People are reading the public documents, and they’re telling me it is a mess,” he said. “I genuinely don’t see an end to this.”
Responding, mayor Tom Wootton (Conservative) said he had spoken to the council’s chief finance officer earlier in the day and remained optimistic about the authority’s prospects.
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“I think we have the right mix and somehow we’re going to get out of this,” he said.
“I believe this authority will come back on track, and it will be on the finance button when we get to the end of this year.
“We’ve got people who are experts in this, and I really believe that we can do this.
“I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but we can do it. This is a battle worth fighting, and we’re going to win it.”
Cllr McMurdo said he remained unconvinced.
“We’ve been at this now since March 2025,” he said. “There is nothing showing me that I can make a more positive prediction than what I’m setting out.”
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
