Bedford Borough Council has yet to respond to questions about the cost, staffing impact and use of external consultants in its Improvement Plan, more than a month after they were submitted.
The questions were sent by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) on 12 January ahead of the plan’s presentation to Full Council.
They sought details on the total budgeted cost of delivering the programme, the consultancy roles created, the recruitment or procurement processes used, and the number of redundancies planned.
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Council documents published with the Improvement Plan confirm that the chief executive is the senior responsible owner (SRO) for delivery and will chair regular meetings of the Improvement Leadership Team.
The Improvement Plan, covering the period 2025–2030, was presented to councillors on 14 January, following approval by the Executive, and is intended to guide the authority’s financial recovery after significant overspends in temporary accommodation, adult social care and children’s services.
It states that Bedford faces a £59 million funding gap over the lifetime of the plan.
The plan includes “phase 1 strategic downsizing” and says the council’s financial challenge “cannot be met without a careful review and planned reduction in the overall staff and agency complement” – but it does not specify how many job losses this will involve.
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During the Executive meeting, councillors questioned whether the council had already applied for Exceptional Financial Support (EFS). Mayor Tom Wootton (Conservative) said the council was awaiting the Government’s response to the application.
Budget documents published for Full Council on 18 February confirm that an application was made in December 2025 for Exceptional Financial Support covering:
- £20 million of revenue budget support in 2025/26
- £25 million in 2026/27
- £10 million in 2027/28
The same briefing note states that the Government is considering applications and is expected to respond by the end of February 2026.
The council’s Treasury Strategy report also states that the capital programme includes an update to the Flexible Capital Receipts Programme to fund the “pump-priming cost” of delivering revenue budget savings and the council’s Improvement Plan, amounting to £25 million over three years.
The Section 25 report, published under the Local Government Act 2003, states that the capital programme includes £15.4 million in 2026/27 of pump-priming funding, including redundancy costs and programme management support, to deliver efficiencies and the Improvement Programme.
It warns that this will be a significant draw on staff resources at a time when capacity is already stretched, and headcount reductions are planned.
The council’s Capital Strategy also confirms that £3.955 million of transformation costs were approved for funding from capital receipts in 2025/26, and includes budget lines for redundancies and specialist resources linked to the delivery of savings proposals.
The LDRS’ unanswered questions include the total staffing impact of the Improvement Plan, the value of external consultancy contracts, and whether further details on redundancies will be published.
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
