Brighton and Hove City Council is planning cuts to its staff and hikes in council tax, business rates and parking costs in order to balance the books and avoid bankruptcy.
Speaking to The Argus, Councillor Jacob Taylor, the council’s finance lead, said the council’s financial position was worsened by the previous Green-led administration, which overspent its in-year budget by £3.5 million.
He explained that the Greens also faced challenges with inflation, but “didn’t take the difficult decisions that we took earlier in our administration.”
“They could have got things under control sooner,” Cllr Taylor said.
He said: “We faced a £30 million budget gap – in simple terms, what that is, is the gap between the total cost of all the services we offer and the funding we’re getting from tax and government.
“There has been such inflationary pressures and service demand pressures because the economy is in a bad state and because of the housing crisis.
“It is important to say that there are councils all over the country that are effectively going bankrupt, including Conservative councils.
“Brighton and Hove City Council is not in that position – we are not going bankrupt, and that’s because we’ve taken the difficult decisions to balance the budget.”
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