Lichfield District Council has confirmed it is likely to have saved money rather than spent it during the current financial year.
A report to be discussed at a meeting of the local authority’s cabinet in February has revealed that £91,640 will be put into its general reserves if current spending trends continues.
It marks a significant swing of more than £330,000 from the £240,290 figure the council had expected to take out of its financial reserves in order to balance the books.
Among the savings outlined in the report are:
- a reduction in civic expenses
- a reduced spend on council member training
- employee savings due to parks team restructuring
- lower utility bills thanks to “mild weather”
- additional planning fee income
- additional car parking income
But the report warned that the council could not afford to rest on its laurels when it comes to adapting to reduced funding from Government.
It said: “The level of recent change in local government finance is unprecedented, ranging from the localisation of Council Tax Support, wider welfare reforms and local retention of an element of Non-Domestic Rates (NDR).
“This change introduces some significant additional financial risks, such as a major proportion of Lichfield District Council’s funding being dependent on the level of NDR.
“As a consequence, preparation and planning to implement changes and identify strategies that can be used to manage these risks continue.”
