Wiltshire Council's Budget "Black Hole"

Wiltshire Lib Dems are warning that ‎the Council is heading for a financial crisis.

The warning comes as papers published at the Council's Cabinet meeting show less than 60% of these savings are being delivered (£15.6m out of a desired £26.7m). Over £7m of these proposed savings are now "unlikely to be delivered". A further £3m can only be delivered "with risks".

Liberal Democrats Leader of the Opposition on Wiltshire Council, Councillor Ian Thorn said, "We challenged the Conservative leadership on their cutting £26m from this year's Council budget. They said they were "95%" certain they could do it even though it is the largest budget cut the Council has ever made. ‎Now they are admitting to a current budget "black hole" for this year of £5.6m."

Councillor Thorn continued, "Wiltshire now gets no Government grant. Nationally the Conservatives are hitting Council's hard. Now we are seeing that impact in Wiltshire. With low cash reserves, there is a real danger that Council services will be hit even harder."

ENDS