Almost another £1 million has been added to the Isle of Wight Council’s deficit in the wake of COVID-19.
In papers released on Wednesday, it was revealed the gap in the authority’s struggling finances has grown to £10.7 million, from £9.8 million in June.
In the 3 months since the last breakdown of finances, council documents show there has been an extra £800,000 of additional costs, £400,000 of income lost and £1.1 million of funding losses, such as council tax and business rates.
The Isle of Wight Council has now received £10.3 million in government support over 3 separate allocations — bringing the total £21 million deficit down to £10.7 million — but still leaves the council to find extra money in an already stretched budget.
In February, the council had already committed to saving £4.5 million as part of its financial strategy for 2020/21 so, in July, a deficit recovery strategy was put in place to fill the void or risk service reductions and emergency spending controls.
£11.5 million was found in all corners to help bridge the budget gap — with money left over in case more COVID-19 costs occurred.
Money earmarked for short-term risks — in this instance, £3 million set aside to cover potential court costs following the legal battle over Christ The King College’s sixth form building — was taken to cover the deficit.
Refurbishments of Sandown Civic Centre and Ryde Help Centre have been put on hold, saving £875,000.
A further £50,000 has been found from flexible use of office accommodation while council staff work from home.
The proposed Nicholson Road, Ryde, development has been halted, although planning permission is still being sought, and the outlining of a business case for Camp Hill has been paused in an effort to save the council some money.
The council will also be able to recover a portion of its lost income through a scheme the government has announced, although detailed estimates of how much has not yet been announced.
The extra £900,000 deficit which has occurred in the last 3 months is still able to be covered by the deficit reduction strategy – but only leaves £800,000 before the council has to find more money — unless the government’s income compensation scheme pays out soon.
Oh dear it’s odds on a big increase in council tax is coming.
Rumour has it that the cuts are going to be so severe that the management are like rats in a barrell at the moment!
Any cuts wont affect management. Just the vulnerable and needy of course! It’s the IoW council way.
You have never heard of a sacrificial lamb in local authority then!
I bet the LAST thing that will happen is the councillors taking a cut in their pay and expenses.
Amongst the first things will be hammer the motorists more, added to hammer the elderly care services, hammer the less well off, s*d the homeless, s*d the children with learning problems and s*d anybody else that dares to cost them money.
On a plus side they might build a bridge over the Medina and find any number of vote winning schemes that will cost US money.The mood I am in today I could go on for ever. Try and find out about flu jabs, guaranteed to drive you right round the bend. Health service? All the doors are locked and the phones are off the hook.
The IoW council should cut their cocaine budget. That’s the first thing I would do if I were leader.
Oh dear, and I have absolutely no sympathy for the at all. In fact, the best thing that can happen is for them to go bankrupt, a receiver called in and then, perhaps someone with some business sense appear on the scene.
As bad as that would be, its probably the way forward.
I hate Isle of Wight Council.. They are here just to rip you off and chase you and threathen you with ‘warning’ letters for payments with very high fees and losing direct debit with them and go to court if you don’t pay in short time etc…. While their wages I bet are 5 times higher than my household altogether with their job mostly to prey on people who just go by with their little wages in the modern slavery system..!!
The question is, how many more public services can they cut(there can’t be many left), how many more yellow lines can they paint and how many more parking restrictions/car park charges can they introduce to swell their salaries and pay for debacles like the floating bridge before the island grinds to a total halt and people stop coming here because of the state of the place? Every year is the same, take of cuts upon cuts upon cuts, yet taxes never go down and council tax rises are always above inflation – the money must be gong somewhere, maybe towards the huge public sector pension bill that nobody likes to mention in local authority circles?
Being back Duckworth and Burbage!!!!!
Just as bad as the lot we have now
I’ve worked with them both and they were better than the current mob when in office.
You pay your council tax online and ask for an email receipt as proof you paid…. for some reason… that doesn’t happen anymore ! !
This council just can not even get the simplest things right.
Tried to pay this months…. came up with error message, well… if they don’t want it lol
I expect the bailiffs to be visiting in a few days now.
Every ‘council tax year’ from April to January I take the letter from our dear council down to my local Post Office where they scan the barcode. Every receipt for the amount paid is attached to the said letter. Voila! Concrete evidence. Never had a problem. My advice is try this way. Might be better for you. I keep these paper records on file for two years then shred them.
We’ve all felt the financial effects of Covid 19 so the council should think hard before expecting the island public to be able to cough up more cash as it’s just not available.
And forcing further rises to cover their bad money management will have a very detrimental effect on island residence