THE FINDINGS of an independent review of Worcestershire County Council’s financial management and governance will be discussed at a meeting next week.
Undergoing an external assurance review was part of the conditions of the council’s requests for Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) over the past two financial years.
The authority needed £33.6 million of EFS in 2025/26 and £59.9m in 2026/26 in order to set a balanced budget.
This allows the council to borrow money and sell capital assets to fund its day-to-day costs.
FULL COUNCIL: A previous council meeting at Pershore Civic Centre (Image: Phil Wilkinson-Jones/LDRS)
A letter from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) says: “The department expects the council to have robust plans in place and take all appropriate action at a local level to manage risk and support financial recovery.”
The council must report back to MHCLG by the end of September outlining its plans to reduce its future reliance on EFS.
Also on the agenda for the full council meeting, which will take place next Thursday (September 10) at Pershore Civic Centre, are updates on the council’s treasury management and the Worcestershire Pension Fund.
Motions put forward by councillors include a suggestion for Worcestershire schools and council caterers to use food grown and produced within the county.
Reform are also calling for the vacant County Hall site to be used by the NHS and for the county council to tackle traffic problems in Evesham.
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Conservative councillors have submitted motions calling for the council to double its number of highways liaison teams from three to six, so there would be one for each district in the county, and on the number and size of police forces.
More than a dozen questions have been submitted by councillors, including on the take-up of the MMR vaccine in Worcestershire, a call for a review of roadworks on the A38 in Bromsgrove, complaints about comments on social media and assurances that farmers are being supported.
Reform’s Nik Price also wants to ask leader Matt Jenkins if he plans to seek a judicial review into the government’s plan to split Worcestershire into two unitary authorities rather than create one unitary council for the whole county.
