Jobs could go as Exeter tries to balance its books

'Savings need to be made'

Jobs could be lost in Exeter as the city council battles to save millions of pounds under increasing financial pressures.

Council leader Phil Bialyk (Lab, Exwick) has pledged that the city will not be one of the English councils that succumbs to a Section 114 ‘bankruptcy’ in the near future.

But, he said, savings would have to be made.

Councils up and down the country are warning that a squeeze on their finances which began under the previous Conservative government could drive them to the brink of financial ruin.

This week Somerset Council said that in a ‘worst case scenario’ 450 of its staff could be lost to avoid it effectively going bankrupt. A 45-day consultation on compulsory redundancies has begun.

A number of councils have already declared Section 114 notices, which effectively mean they are bankrupt and unable to do anything other than deliver the most basic services.

Northamptonshire County Council did it in 2018, and since then notices have been issued in Slough, Croydon, Thurrock, Woking, Birmingham and Nottingham. Many other councils have warned that they may have to take the drastic step if things do not improve.

The councils insist it is because the system is broken, and not that they have been careless with their finances. Financial support from central government  has been slashed by billions of pounds since the austerity years beginning in 2010.

Speaking to this week’s Devoncast podcast, Cllr Bialyk was adamant: “We are not going to go bankrupt in Exeter. We are not going to get commissioners in to run the city. We will continue to run it on behalf of the citizens of Exeter.”

He said the city’s funding had been cut by around 60 per cent over the last 14 years, and it still had to make savings of £5.7 million over the next three years. The city council’s forthcoming budget will include savings of £3.5million.

“It’s very difficult,” said Cllr Bialyk. “There are things we need to look at. Can we do it better? Can we make a saving?

“And that saving sometimes means unfortunately doing it with fewer people, but doing it in a better way.”

He said there would be consultations across Exeter to gauge public opinion on where cuts could be made.