Nottingham City Council asks government for £65m but could still be forced to make huge cuts

Nottingham City Council’s Loxley House.

Nottingham City Council has requested £65m of exceptional financial support from the Government to help fill its budget black holes after effectively declaring bankruptcy two months ago. The authority has a £23m budget shortfall for the current financial year, and a separate £53m gap for 2024/25, which the council is legally required to close.

The requested emergency funding would be split into up to £25m for the current year, and up to £40m for the next. The council is still waiting for a response from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities ahead of its budget-setting process in February.

However, council officials believe the support may only be provided if the authority goes through with the full £14.9m it is proposing in cuts – including libraries, road sweeping and community protection – which recently went through a public consultation. Any support would likely be in the form of loans and special permission to raise money from council assets and spend it on day-to-day operational costs, rather than a grant.

The size of the application hadn’t previously been confirmed but was shown in a presentation during Nottingham City Council ’s Housing & City Development Scrutiny Committee on Monday (January 22). Councillor Steve Battlemuch (Lab), the portfolio holder for Skills, Growth, Economic Development and Property, said: “We do need an answer [from the government] sooner rather than later. The budget is due in February.

“There are a number of factors to be confirmed which we can’t finalise until we get an answer. Our Section 151 officer [Ross Brown] is in touch with the government daily.”

He added: “The implication from government is that the council will only get money if we accept all of the proposed cuts. It feels like the consultation is meaningless, which is incredibly disappointing given it was our biggest-ever.”

Around £20m of cuts and savings have been drawn up by council officers, which would also see 554 jobs lost. The Government is currently reviewing all steps the council is taking to close its budget gap.

It was previously granted £20m of exceptional financial support in 2020/21, and then a second tranche of £15m the following year which it withdrew its request for. A small number of other authorities have also received similar support in the last few years.

The Government recently also said it is now “minded to” appoint commissioners in Nottingham, who will take some decision-making power away from elected councillors. It is hoped that an answer will be received before the Executive’s budget meeting on February 13.

The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has been contacted for comment.