Brighton and Hove City Council has warned of “very difficult decisions” due to a multi-million pound gap in its finances, with auditors warning councillors may have to increase income from fees and charges, sell assets and even cut services to the “statutory minimum”.
While the Labour council has said its finances are in an “extremely perilous position”, it has not spelt out in detail what measures might be taken to balance the books.
David Maples, the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) candidate in the upcoming South Portslade by-election on January 11, has called on Labour to publish their cuts proposals now, more than a month before councillors are due to discuss this year’s budget.
He said: “We say end the uncertainty. Rather than wait for the strategy, finance and city regeneration committee meeting on February 8, the proposals should be published now.
“The fine detail may not be known but individual department and service area targets certainly will be.
“The proposed closure of St Peter’s Community School and St Bartholomew’s Primary School, along with nine other schools losing a class, would only save just over £2 million. The Labour leadership will be looking to repeat this 15 times over to find its target of £33 million in cuts.
“We don’t have full local elections in Brighton and Hove until 2027. What services will be left by then?
“Labour should come clean and publish their proposals now. This by-election should be a referendum on them.”
Last month, the council announced it would attempt to bridge the funding gap by leasing two floors of its Bartholomew House headquarters as shared office space.
Councillor Jacob Taylor, finance lead for the Labour administration, previously said the council would work to protect frontline services but tough decisions would need to be made.
He said: “In the last 13 years, the government has slashed the council’s budget by £120 million in real terms. We are in a period of very high inflation and growing demands for council services and homelessness support driven by the cost of living crisis.
“The council finances are in an extremely perilous position. We are doing everything we can to reduce inequality and tackle poverty and homelessness, but we will have to find millions more in savings next year.
“We will have to take some urgent and extremely difficult decisions in the coming weeks to protect essential services.
“To put it bluntly, the less money we have the fewer services we can provide.
Labour was approached for comment.
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