An update from Councillor Brennan, Labour team leader, on Central Bedfordshire’s budget overspend and what the Independent administration’s incompetent handling of council affairs may mean next.
CBC council under control of the Independent Administration (the “Independent Alliance”) is in an overspend position for the second year in a row.
In quarter 2 figures, the council has indicated it is expected that the councils finances are to hit an estimated £8.1 million overspend at the end of the year, which is over the £6.6million safeguarding contingency baked into the budget, which will leave the council £1.5million short at the end of the year.
Ultimately, the council may need to file a Section 114 notice which is a notice sent to central government, stating (in this case) that the councils expenditure is expected to exceed its income for any given financial year. There are numerous options as to what the administration can do in order to find its way through without issuing an S114, including asking the government for a bailout.
Last year, when the independents managed to pass their budget, they argued that the £10million overspend from the first year of their tenure was all because of the financial incompetence of the previous conservative administration. They no longer have that option as a scapegoat.
Comments