The city council had already been bracing itself for a £28m budget gap next year, but with a larger than expected drop in government funding next year that has now soared to an estimated £39m.
Green finance spokesperson Cllr Gavin Corbett said
“I can’t recall a bleaker financial outlook in my seven years of working on budgets. Successive years of government failure to grasp the nettle of council funding reform are now coming home to roost and the losers are people who depend on vital public services like social care, schools and community facilities. It’s just terrible news.”
He added:
“The budget settlement is still in draft. It will have to change an awful lot between now and February to be credible.”