Council finances hit by coronavirus crisis

OXFORDSHIRE County Council is facing a budget shortfall of £16 million.

It says the loss of income and extra spending during the coronavirus pandemic has set it back £51 million.

On Tuesday, councillors will be asked to approve measures, such as a adapting services rather than scrapping them, that will save the council about £15 million.

The council’s net budget for the current financial year is £476 million.

Councillor David Bartholomew, cabinet member for finance who represents Sonning Common division, said: “We are proposing to take a careful and measured approach and are seeking to protect frontline services as much as we can.

“Throughout the pandemic, the council has gone the extra mile to support local residents on a daily basis. We have done this without question in order to support and protect the most vulnerable in our communities.

“Like other local authorities, we now find ourselves in a position whereby we are being asked to cover a significant proportion of the cost for this.

“While ensuring we meet our legal duty to balance our budget, we are continuing to work with councils across England to call on the Government for further funding for councils at this critical time.”

A total of £903,000 will be saved in children’s social care due to the delay of the new family safeguarding model, which will be implemented in the autumn instead of the summer.

Funding of £1.3 million for adult social care could be provided nationally through the Hospital Discharge Scheme, which is expected to be available soon.

In highways and transport, £500,000 relating to ongoing schemes will be charged to capital budgets instead of revenue.

The fire and rescue service has proposed to save £330,000 by delaying plans to replace older diesel vehicles with electric cars by one year and delaying the delivery of a fire engine.

The council hopes to save £306,000 from utility bills as a result of council-owned buildings being closed during the lockdown.

Reduced spending on travel, printing, stationery and expenses should save another £400,000.

The council has already received £31 million in funding from the Government and the new Income Guarantee Scheme is expected to provide an additional £4 million. Its budget for 2021/22 will be agreed in February.

Council leader Ian Hudspeth said: “Further financial pressures will follow as we restart services in a covid-compliant manner, such as operating home-to-school transport with staggered opening times and social distancing measures in place.

“The possibility of a second wave of the virus later this year, particularly if combined with a flu epidemic, would also place a huge strain on existing resources, especially if lockdown is required and services have to be stood down again. Moreover, there may well be significant costs in future years arising from covid as a result of reduced business rates and council tax.”