HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL NOT FINANCIALLY "VIABLE" SEPT 2020
Sept 29, 2020 13:26:20 GMT
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Post by PB on Sept 29, 2020 13:26:20 GMT
The Local Government Chronicle has published 'disturbing' financial facts regarding the status of Hampshire County Council.
This is the very Hampshire County Council currently budgeting huge sums of our money in its continued legal dogfight over Blackbushe Airport, a battle whereby Hampshire County Council securing the result they seek might possibly lead to the destruction of one of their County's finest business opportunities for employment, its local economy, and support of General Aviation - an industry that produces some £3billion toward our national GDP annually. Blackbushe is ideally suited for the post Covid recovery and the new greener technology today being applied to tomorrow's General Aviation flying machines. The County continuing its path of adversity toward the airfield amounts to an insult to all of us who pay not inconsiderable sums in Council Tax to its ever hungry coffers.
On 23 September, 2020, Local Government Chronicle's report stated...
"Pressures from Covid-19 have left Hampshire CC unsustainable in the medium term without a further £52m of government funding, its Conservative leader has warned.
Papers due to go to Hampshire's cabinet on Tuesday, (29 September, 2020), say the council has faced extra costs and lost income totaling £160m due to the pandemic with additional government funding covering less than half of that. Over the next three years the financial impact is forecast to rise to more than £210m, meaning £80m of savings will be needed by April 2023.
Leader Keith Mans (Con) said prudent financial management over recent years meant the council could “weather the storm” this year but in the medium term “the situation worsens” due to growing demand for social care as a result of the pandemic, further lost income and council tax revenue, as well as the costs of responding to any more coronavirus outbreaks.
“It means that our total unfunded costs and losses rise to around £210m over the next three years – with the need for at least £52m from government in order to remain financially viable in the future,” Cllr Mans said.
“We have remained steadfast in our representations to government on the severity of this unprecedented situation and continue to stress the need for a sustainable funding solution to help us through the current financial crisis we face from coronavirus, and into the future – including opportunities that allow local authorities greater freedoms to charge for some services, and flexibility around setting council tax.”
The paper to cabinet said although the position reported by the council to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government in monthly returns had improved slightly in August, looking to next year income losses were not now expected to return to normal as previously predicted.
Income pressures include the county’s school catering service, with “early indications” that meal provision is down 30% on the previous year, outdoor centres and the countryside service.
The forecast losses from council tax had potentially increased from 5% to 8% of expected receipts, costing the council an additional £20m in lost income.
The council has also had to contribute £313,000 to the set up of a new temporary mortuary after the previous site was decommissioned. The report said additional resource had also been required by the coroner’s service which was handling a much higher volume of cases than normal, although it was uncertain how much of this is due to the impact of Covid-19.
At the end of 2019-20 the council had £643m in useable reserves.
However, the cabinet paper said the council had reviewed its medium-term financial strategy and modelled it against four scenarios: no further financial support from government; funding to meet response costs but no underwriting of council tax and business rates; funding for response costs and council tax and business rates under current forecasts; and the same additional funding but under a deterioration in current forecasts to the “reasonable worst case scenario”. In only the third of these would the council remain viable, the report said.
It continued: “Even under this best case scenario, the county council remained very vulnerable to any further financial shocks… without significant additional funding from the government in response to the Covid-19 crisis and social care pressures, going forward the county council is not financially sustainable in the medium term.”
Question. Does one read from this that extra Government funding for Hampshire County's financial deficit might in any form be used to support their plans toward the detriment of Blackbushe Airport, her staff, and the businesses operating from there?
PB