‘Financial pressures no longer as great’ for city

CONSULTATION OVER BUDGET CUTS WILL BE CLEARER THIS YEAR

- By JOE LOCKER Local democracy reporter

Councillor Ethan Radford, deputy leader of Nottingham City Council and executive member for finance

BUDGET cuts in Nottingham are not going to be as bad as previous years, the city council’s deputy leader says.

A consultation over planned cuts will also be more understandable, held earlier and not over the Christmas period.

The changes come after the Labour-led authority was criticised over the way it let residents know what it was planning to cut, and how it let people contribute to how services were changing.

Government commissioners were appointed in February 2024 to oversee a critical improvement journey towards better financial sustainability, after the authority declared itself effectively bankrupt months prior in November 2023.

Some councillors and the commissioners have before said there has been a lack of transparency stemming from “abstract” language in consultations, as well as documents being presented to members with little time for proper scrutiny.