Significant savings in Swindon Borough Council’s spending have eased fear about the authority’s financial position – at least for a while.

Earlier this year, In the run-up to the Labour cabinet setting its first budget after taking power in 2023, the cabinet member for finance Councillor Kevin Small characterised the situation as “approaching the cliff edge”.

As the budget was being prepared during January and February Cllr Small said efforts were underway to cut a projected overspend on the 2023-24 budget, and also to identify savings in this year’s budget, which had seen costs increase significantly owing to a high rate of inflation.

Now Cllr Small says more savings had been made in last year’s budget, meaning there was more room to manoeuvre with this year’s spending.

He told the Adver: “The 2023-24 budget original overspend has now been reduced to less than £500,000 when it was originally looking to top £15 million.

Bringing last year's budget into line made a massive difference to our future financial viability –there was £5 to 6m set aside at the budget meeting in February to cover the then-predicted overspend in the 2023-24 budget.

“This is now not needed and gives us more headroom in 2024-25.”

It has allowed the cabinet member to amend his ‘cliff edge’ analogy: “This means we are now on the coastal footpath and not the cliff edge, but any landslide could easily bring us back.

"But as we start the 2024-25 financial year no erosion is forecast and the prospects of us seeing the year out and setting a balance budget for 2025-26 next February are high. “

Cllr Small said there are still significant financial challenges facing the council but added: “Due to hard work from officers and sound financial leadership by the Labour cabinet the direst prospect has now faded.”

Leader of the Conservative opposition, Councillor Gary Sumner was not so sanguine.

He said: “Every year the Conservative administration dealt with ‘in year’ budget pressures and brought in a balanced budget for the year. This required tough decisions, as the Labour administration is now finding.

“What is difficult to reconcile was the criticism of our long-term borrowing of around £400m when they were seeking election, yet now they are proposing a further £100m plus of borrowing at a difficult time for all councils and this reckless borrowing will be paid for by residents with a further pressure on services going forward.

“The ‘debt’ they inherited had paid for things like schools, infrastructure, the 10,000 council houses under our ownership and includes the Wichelstowe development (which will bring a return to the borough of over £150m).”

Cllr Sumner said much of the extra money raised by the council tax increase of 4.99 per cent in this year’s budget will not be spent of services: “60 per cent of the 2024-25 council tax will be spent paying interest on new Labour council debt.

“I’m not so sure about the claim of ‘sound financial leadership’ – it sounds more a gamble that a change in government might come to their rescue.”

More than 20 per cent of the council’s revenue budget- its day-to-day spending on services has been allocated to services for elderly and other vulnerable adults and services for children and families.

These are statutory services that the council must meet whatever the scale of the demand.

All its other services, libraries, leisure, collecting the bins, mending the roads and services like planning and environmental health and licensing are funded from the 20 per cent left over, or from fees and charges for those services levied on the public.

Cllr Small is standing in this year’s local elections in Mannington & Western ward. Other candidates are Liberal Democrat Fraser McCormick and the Conservatives’ Nandini Singh.