Walsall Council is again faced with a shortfall in its revenue budget over the next four years.
Senior finance officer Shaun Darcy confirmed that £26.3million in savings had been proposed for the medium financial term but a £10million gap remains.
The financial environment for Walsall Council, like all councils across the country, remains ‘very challenging’.
Mr Darcy spoke of the continued pressures in adult social care and children’s services, which accounts for two thirds of the council’s entire budget, but added that inflationary cost of living pressures are affecting all services too.
He said: “The proposals that went to cabinet included around £62million of additional funding to meet those pressures, alongside £26.3million of total savings proposed. That in itself makes it very clear that the government funding that we receive at Walsall is not sufficient.
“At this stage we have a £10million gap against the overall budget envelope and there’s a lot of work ongoing to meet that gap.
“We encourage the lobbying of getting more government funding. There is pressure there to put more funding into the system but obviously it needs to come from somewhere across government and everywhere’s got pressures.
“Whether we’ll see any additional funding or not, I’d like to think we would, but I’m not really sure what certainty we can have on that at the moment.”
By Rachel Alexander | Local Democracy Reporting Service
Parents fined for child’s school absence
Council ‘pauses’ parking charges plan for Sutton Park
Bosses confirm delayed Metro opening
Pest infestations discovered in takeaway
Sharks, parties and ‘huge relief’ – inside Ladywood celebrations
