Council targets £60m saving after spending review

Leicestershire County Council has said it has identified up to £60m of potential annual savings after carrying a major cost-cutting review.

The Reform UK-led authority hired consultants to examine all elements of its £1.3bn annual spending to try to find ways of tackling a black hole in its budget which is expected to reach £85m by 2030.

On Friday, council leader Dan Harrison said he hoped to achieve the savings without major cuts to public services or council job losses from its 5,000-strong workforce.

However, opposition councillors have said they are sceptical about whether the savings set out could be made, with one describing the proposals as "wishy-washy".

The minority Reform UK administration has paid £1.4m to consultants Newton to carry out the six-month review.

Newton and other external consultants could be paid up to £23m over the next three years if savings are delivered, the authority said.

It added review savings would be on top of £44m of cuts it has already approved over the next four years.

In a report, published on Friday, council finance officers said they were confident at least £27.2m a year of savings could be made across 13 areas.

It said the savings could rise to £53.5m over the period of the council's medium term financial plan (MTFS) and £60m by 2031.

"Many of the opportunities are focused on social care," the report said.

"As the council spends over 75% of its net budget on social care, and the MTFS includes significant growth for them, it is these services that will naturally create the most significant impact."

The council said the use of "data, tech and AI" would be part of the savings.

It said there was increasing demand on social care caused by a growing population of older people who were living longer so it would look to help support them to live independently.

It also said it would seek to get better value from its contracts and look to invest in in-house social care facilities rather than rely on expensive private sector providers.

Harrison said: "This is historic. We are the first county council in the country to carry out this programme we are now running with.

"This will add safety and comfort to the people of Leicestershire.

"They will know we are seeking to be more efficient and utilise their money, that they pay through taxes, in a better method."

Cabinet member for resources Harrison Fowler said: "This review is a game-changer.

"It takes a huge chunk from our budget gap and offers a chance to reset how the council works.

"Clearly, investment would be needed to create change on this scale but it goes with the territory and will bring big, long-term gains for our taxpayers.

"Setting up a rolling programme, with plenty of ideas in the pipeline, will leave a legacy for Leicestershire."

The council's Liberal Democrat opposition group leader Micheal Mullaney said: "If money can be saved without harming public services, we would support that but I am very sceptical about how Reform will find these savings.

"I can't see how they can make this scale of savings without it harming front-line services."

Conservative opposition group leader Deborah Taylor the Reform plan had "so many great big ifs".

She said it was based on savings over five years when the council is set to be abolished and replaced with another type of authority in 2028 as part of a major shake-up of local government.

"It's wishy-washy," she added.

"From reading the report it looks like the implementation costs [of the savings] will be £24m and in two years it will deliver £7.1m of savings.

"That leaves the new authority with £16.9m of costs. The numbers don't add up."

The council has said the up-front costs of implementing the review were one-off but the savings it would deliver were annual and continuous.

Harrison added: "If we ignored [the financial challenges] we would be in financial chaos. Most councils would be seeking 10% or 15% council tax rises because we wouldn't be able to pay the bills to run the business."

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