The cost of parking, burials, and gig tickets could be increased by 10% as a councillor warns of a £15m financial gap next year.

Middlesbrough Council has published its financial recovery plan ahead of the local authority’s executive meeting next week after a £9m financial gap was projected for the 2022/23 financial year.

There could also be a freeze on non-essential recruitment with proposals to hire additional agency social workers suspended and one £150,000 service might be cut before it’s even up and running.

Politicians will be required to vote to approve the plans that will charge residents more for council services as the cost of living crisis continues. The overspend has been attributed to wage rises, inflation (which stands at 9.9%) and high demand for children’s services.

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Cllr Stefan Walker, the executive member for finance and governance, said he hoped the financial decisions the council is making now will not be permanent, however, it will not be plain sailing going forward.

He added: “What’s a worry to me, is we have a £9m overspend and then we are looking forward to next year and looking to what the budget is going to be – we have a £15m gap that we are going to have to bridge as well.”

In Middlesbrough, the situation is exacerbated by low levels of council tax collection compared with other parts of the country and the majority of households being in the lower bands – so even when tax is collected it’s not as much as in other boroughs that have more expensive properties.

Across the council departments, savings of £6.9m have been proposed, with all departments recording a projected underspend for the 2022/23 financial year apart from children’s services which remain more than £6m over budget. The final overspend is now projected to be £1.66m.

Cllr Walker, who is the deputy leader of the Middlesbrough Independent Group, said: “I predict over the next two years you are going to have councils that are not able to balance their budgets and will go bust. Middlesbrough Council is not in that position yet, legally we have to provide certain services but legally we have to have a balanced budget.”

The council is not able to borrow for day-to-day spending like the government can, however, it still has a legal obligation to provide social services for adults and children.

This means it often has to make difficult decisions to prevent overspending, especially at times when demand is high.

The town’s children’s services department, which was rated inadequate after an inspection at the end of 2019, has proposed savings of £811,000 – though it is unlikely it will meet that target. The financial pressures gripping the service are partly due to rising demand, the cost of agency social workers and the rising fees associated with external residential placements for young people who are looked after by the authority.

The report warns that the freeze on non-essential vacancies will place additional pressure on existing team members and could impact performance. Cllr Walker, who represents Coulby Newham, said the funding model for children’s services is outdated as the council does not receive funding per child, like schools do.

Therefore, even if there is a sudden increase in looked after children the council does not receive extra money to home them safely and monitor them. He added: “We can’t let a vulnerable child down, that’s not a choice we can make.”

He wants to ensure that children’s services are funded sustainably, as it is predicted they will be responsible for 45% of council spending next year, which could impact the work of other departments as funding is tight.

The department will also attempt to reduce the spending on external residential placements, which are projected to be £4.9m over budget, by a further £300,000 by the end of 2022/23. However, the report states that will be a very challenging target as all possible reductions have already been factored in.

An enhanced youth services offer, costing £150,000 and agreed in February this year, will not make it off the ground as the council decided to scrap it to save money. It was supposed to work with vulnerable children in Middlesbrough who are impacted by high levels of anti-social behaviour.

The public will also face rising costs as the council proposes to increase fees and charges, to make an extra £463,000. These would usually be increased as part of the budget report in February each year, but due to high inflation, the increase has been brought forward.

This includes a 10% increase in bereavement services with cremation fees rising from £820 to £902 and burial fees increasing from £660 to £726. There will also be a 10% rise in ticket costs for events at council venues including the Town Hall, the Middlesbrough Theatre, and Newham Grange Leisure Farm.

A 10% increase will also be applied to allotment rents, parking charges, Stainsby nursery fees, and registrar costs which cover weddings, births and deaths.

The adult social care and public health department has projected savings of £1.4m. The department was more than £1m over budget at the recent forecast.

There are plans to increase contributions from the NHS where there are shared responsibilities and to discontinue a small hospital discharge project which has been dormant for three years. The department will suspend plans to recruit a number of additional agency/temporary social workers and to delay the recruitment of two day-care support workers.

Concerns have been raised about the impact of the recruitment freezes on the department’s ability to improve the service ahead of the Care Quality Commission inspections which should start nationally in April 2023.

The regeneration and culture department plans to save £648,000 by ceasing new activity in the town centre that requires the council to inject cash. According to the plans, there will also be a reduction of activities to develop museums and attractions too.

The environment and community services team has £419,000 of savings projected. The rollout of the proposed subsidised pest control service and the enhanced tree maintenance programme – both included in last year’s budget – will be delayed. Funds dished out through the environmental community pot will also be stopped. Security in libraries and hubs will also be halted and the recruitment of five vacant street warden posts will be frozen.

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