Bedford borough Lib Dems have said the new Conservative administration has “lost control” of the council’s budget.
But the Conservatives say they had “inherited a financial mess”
The leader of the borough’s Lib Dems, Cllr Henry Vann (De Parys) issued a statement ahead of this week’s Executive Meeting (13 September).
During this meeting, the Executive will be asked to consider “emerging budget issues”.
“The Conservatives at Borough Hall have lost control of the council budget with a forecast overspend of over £12m already this year,” Cllr Vann said.
“Their supposed plan to fix this falls far short of what’s needed: at less than £4m they are clearly short on solutions.
“Over £30m extra was added into the budget to protect services this year, yet they are still overspending by over £12m which is a huge amount.
“And the situation would be even worse if the Conservatives had had their way back in February when they tried to reduce the budget by £1m by wishing away inflation,” he said.
The Conservative finance portfolio holder, Cllr Graeme Coombes said: “The current Conservative Cabinet inherited a financial mess on taking office from the Lib Dems in May, including an immediate £2.37m budget overspend on day one.
“The Lib Dems put together the budget for this year, before the election, and are once again being wise after the fact and marking their own homework.
“As they are well aware, budget monitoring fluctuates throughout the year.
“However, where the budget is failing to work, in high-spend areas, it shows that they neglected to do their job last year and budget accurately for the challenges that the council is facing.
“Their persistent failure to invest in early interventions to help people before they get to crisis point, which is also the most expensive way of dealing with problems, is simply unacceptable and is leading residents to suffer,” he said.
He added that the mayor and Cabinet are determined to put the council back on a “sound financial footing”.
Cllr Michael Headley (Lib Dem, Putnoe), the former portfolio holder for finance, said: “It’s now September, well into the new year and budget management is entirely the responsibility of the new Conservative administration.
“Once the budget is set they need to manage the spending – making sure taxpayers’ money is being spent efficiently,” he said.
Last month, an investigation into council finances by the BBC Data Unit reported that Bedford Borough Council predicted a cumulative shortfall of £22m for 25/26.
A council spokesperson said that as of Wednesday, 6 September the predicted shortfall is £24 million.
“Bedford is experiencing a large increase in demand in a number of areas,” they said.
“This is impacting on the financial position both in year and reflected in the MTFS [Medium Term Financial Strategy] in the period to 2025/2026.
“The council is putting in place measures to manage the budget position in year.”
Birmingham City Council declared bankruptcy earlier this week after issuing a section 114 notice.
This was to show that it does not have the resources to balance its budget.
The Bedford Borough Council spokesperson said: “The council is not in a position that it would need to issue an s114 notice.”
by John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
