Southampton City Council election key issues: Finances

The local authority has in-principle approval from government for up to £121.6million of exceptional financial support in the current financial year.

This breaks down to £39.3million to offset the 2024/25 budget deficit, £52million to cover a potential equal pay claim liability, £22.8million for transformation and restructuring costs and £7.5million for potential unforeseen events which cannot be covered by reserves.

The council was one of 19 authorities to receive a minded-to capitalisation direction, which allows capital resources to be used to cover everyday revenue costs.

Over the coming months, Southampton City Council will be selling off assets and streamlining services to balance the books.

Ahead of Thursday’s local elections, which see a seat in each of the 17 wards up for grabs, the Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted all of the parties with candidates for their stance on the council’s financial position.

Conservative – Group leader Daniel Fitzhenry

When we ran the council between May 2021-2022 we began installing financial discipline and focusing on funding top priorities. A Conservative council would stop Labour’s millions of pounds of waste and focus on keeping council tax low, repairing roads, pavements and potholes and collecting the bins.

The council faces a huge black hole created by Labour’s mismanagement of finances – getting this balanced, whilst investing in our city would be our priority.

Green – Co-ordinator Lisa Fricker

Southampton has responsibility for adult social care, children in care and transport for children with special needs. All these areas have grown in demand over the past 10 years. When you compare Southampton with other authorities with similar profiles, Southampton is spending more per head than authorities such as Portsmouth. The executive director of adult social care is well aware of this issue and is looking at what they are doing and trying to implement changes to address this.

The Green Party would use the transformation resources to send out groups of staff from SCC to learn from other areas and to bring successful ideas back. They would not appoint consultants with no links to Southampton to write reports about what needs to be done. It appears the Labour administration is kicking these issues into the long grass and hoping that a new government will give funding.

It is obscene that Southampton is borrowing up to £102m to bail the city out. This money will have to be paid back. We do have to recognise that the Tory government has massively underfunded local government for the last 12 years and this needs to be addressed.

Labour – Group leader Lorna Fielker

Local government funding is at a crisis point. One in five councils from all political parties have said they will need to declare they can’t set a balanced budget this year and 50 per cent in the next five years.

In this election campaign, opposition parties have made commitments that would cost the city over £9 million a year. This money would have to be found by slashing other valuable services. Labour has a credible plan endorsed by local government experts to change the way the council works to address the swingeing cuts to local government funding over the past 14 years instigated by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

Finance is not just about this year’s council budget, it’s about the prosperity of the city. Labour is also the only local party who has plans to see Southampton thrive in the future. We are working with major institutions and business to invest in regeneration and workforce skills to attract more business, create quality jobs and build new homes.

We are also committed to sourcing more goods, services and works locally to maximise the benefit to Southampton and its economy from the money generated and spent by the council.

Liberal Democrat – Bassett ward councillor Sam Chapman

Southampton Liberal Democrats can deliver long-term financial stability for our city – it can be achieved despite government cuts.

The Labour administration has overseen financial mismanagement, leading to budget deficits and cuts to essential services. Our city has been brought to the brink of bankruptcy whilst other south coast neighbours continue to thrive and invest the dividends from their well-managed investment portfolios.

The challenge for councils is stark but Liberal Democrat-run administrations are meeting this challenge head on with ambitious investment strategies. Our neighbours Portsmouth can boast millions of pounds of reserves, and an investment portfolio that dwarfs Southampton’s, demonstrating clearly what a Liberal Democrat council could be doing differently in our city.

Southampton Liberal Democrats understand the importance of sound financial management in ensuring the delivery of essential services. That’s why we are dedicated to implementing a long-term financial investment strategy aimed at shoring up the council’s finances. This will include sustainable borrowing to replace the revenue being lost annually by central government cuts and by acting, not just complaining. A diverse portfolio of house-building and commercial investment will not only provide stability but also generate revenue to reinvest in existing services that matter most to you.

Reform UK – Campaign lead Philip Crook

Reform UK have seen in detail the utter failure by both the Tory and Labour councils to run a basic budget with money wasted on schemes such as £1million on 20mph signage, £2,000 for a sewing club, £150 on the Malawi independence day BBQ when key services such as council housing is rated the second worse in UK, potholes, infrastructure deterioration, bin collection failure, and the only dementia home closed.

Reckless management of our money. Reform UK will cut such programs, focus on core services, review the income streams, making best use of reserves, a major drive to get the freeport up and running which will bring much-needed jobs and revenue, plus a major drive to attract new businesses to the city and support existing businesses.

We will also make sure our MPs work for the city as currently they are unheard and do little to support the city. Without a sound economy, there would be no services.

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) – Swaythling ward candidate Nick Chaffey

The £510 million cut in government funding to Southampton by the Tories has caused the current budget crisis. The plan to sell £120 million in assets and carry out further cuts is no solution and must be scrapped immediately. We are the sixth richest country in the world.

The money is there to restore council services. We need councillors who are prepared to fight this weak and divided government to get the money back. Mass support amongst communities in the city, council workers and the trade unions for such a campaign could be built by refusing to increase council tax, rents and charges and setting a People’s Budget to meet the needs of the city, using its reserves and borrowing powers. Such a budget should include free school meals for all children in the city, the restoration of council-run youth services across the city, re-opening care homes like Holcroft House and Glen Lee and restore jobs and services cut since 2010.

Keir Starmer has ruled out plans for restoring council funding which should be a warning to trade unionists and our communities that we need socialist councillors prepared to fight for the city under the incoming Labour government too.