Spending shortfall expected to narrow at Rotherham Council

The authority has been hit by the impact of high inflation which, councillors have been told, has increased its costs by 20 per cent.

Increases in staff pay and challenges around the cost of providing adult social care and home-to-school transport for those who need it have been highlighted as being among the most serious drains on resources.

However, the situation currently is much less bleak than it appeared earlier in the year, when forecasts suggested the council would be around £17m adrift of its budget.

The most up to date figures for the council’s finances are expected next week, but councillors have been told the expectation is the projected deficit will have been reduced further, but not totally eliminated.

The improvement in the authority’s financial outlook has been attributed to internal work aimed at bringing spending under control, with finance chiefs putting controls in place.

There is also growing confidence within the council that the change of Government last year may herald a period where Rotherham Council’s finances are less strained than they became over the 14 years a coalition and then Conservative Government was in charge, with the policy of austerity costing millions of pounds in lost income.

It is expected the budget report, when published, will set out forecasts for how the council’s finances will look in the next 12 months.