News / Politics
Council bosses slammed for concealing budget deficit
Senior officers at Bristol City Council have been accused of concealing a likely budget gap and being too complacent in trusting that savings could be made without making hard choices.
In a new report published on Thursday, it is revealed that by March 2016, officers believed there was a budget gap of £54.3m but councillors were not informed of this “and continued to receive reassuring reports” throughout March and April 2016.
Former Audit Commission chief executive Steve Bundred wrote: “There was a tacit understanding within the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) that contentious decisions should not be asked of politicians before the Mayoral and Council elections scheduled for May 2016.”
is needed now More than ever
The report, commissioned by Bristol mayor Marvin Rees, says that there has been a collective failure of leadership in achieving past savings and in how the council managed the process.
It notes that improvements have been made in the past six months but highlights a number of serious issues.
These include:
– a failure to deal with issues early enough or accept the need for challenging cuts
– an unwillingness to accept ‘bad news’
– weaknesses in skills, reporting and governance
– the failure of the council’s efficiency-based Single Change Programme to deliver the savings it had planned between 2014/15 and 2016/17
Rees said: “I inherited a deeply troubling financial challenge and promised this independent report to help us understand the causes and how we could put things right.
“We are undoubtedly making fast and strong progress already. We know where there are issues and are already putting many of the fixes in place.
“This means the public, our partners and councillors can be confident in our budget plans for next year, something which the report confirms.
“We have new senior finance officers, an excellent interim chief executive and incoming permanent chief executive, so we are in a good position to improve performance, change the council’s culture and be open about our challenges.”
City council interim chief executive Stephen Hughes apologised on behalf of the council for its collective failure to do well enough in the past.
Hughes said: “Whatever the reasons or intentions of those involved, many of whom have not been part of preparing this report and have not put their case to Mr Bundred, the fact remains that Bristol City Council as a whole did not achieve what it should have and did not show the leadership which people have a right to expect.”
- Read the executive summary of Steve Bundred’s independent report
- Read the full report: Steve Bundred’s Independent Review of Bristol City Council’s Budget Deficit 2016/17
Read more: Bristol City Council required savings rise to £100m
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
