Budget uncertainty remains in Northumberland

At a meeting of the council’s cabinet, members were discussing the council’s budget for the coming financial year, which is expected to be presented in early 2023.

It has identified a ‘worst case scenario’ of having to make up to £98m savings between now and 2027.

However, uncertainty remains over the local government settlement, not usually revealed until late December. The settlement is particularly important this year due to pressure on council finances caused by inflation.

The Chancellor’s announcement did contain some relevant information for councils, such as a rise in the ceiling in which authorities can raise council tax without holding a referendum.

The council’s interim chief financial officer, Jan Willis, said: “We won’t know our full funding position until the final local government settlement in January. At this stage, we don’t have enough information.”

Deputy leader Cllr Richard Wearmouth added: “Despite the Chancellor’s announcement there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding the local government settlement.

“What we do know is we have the confirmation of a number of things such as the precept for adult social care to go up, for the council tax ceiling to go up, as well as information relevant to our budget setting, in respect of the rise in the living wage.

“We saw information in terms of increases in the school budget and the household support budget.”

Officers and councillors have repeatedly reminded the public that Northumberland remains in a strong financial position despite the additional pressures it is facing.

It comes after the Local Government Association (LGA) praised the Chancellor’s statement – but warned that increasing council tax and business rates was not the answer.

Cllr James Jamieson, chairman of the LGA, said: “While the financial outlook for councils is better than we feared next year, councils recognise it will be residents and businesses who will be asked to pay more. We have been clear that council tax has never been the solution to meeting the long-term pressures facing services.”