Council hopes to increase tax and sell assets

Rising council tax and selling assets will help plug a financial hole caused by more children going into care, chiefs have said.

Swindon Borough Council has outlined its budget proposals for the next financial year, with leaders planning to ask the government for permission to sell up to £22m in assets.

They believe that, along with a 5% council tax rise, will see them through the next financial year. It is the second year running the council has asked the government for exceptional financial support.

Councillor Kevin Small, the cabinet member for finance, said using the authority's rich stock of assets allows it to continue providing services for the people of Swindon.

It would enable Swindon to sidestep normal financial rules, by using one-off, capital receipts to help fund ongoing, day-to-day services, called "capitalisation".

So the authority is again looking at selling off some of its physical assets, the land and buildings it owns.

There are more than 5,000 listed on the council's website, including toilets, parks, schools and shopping centres.

The total value: about £1bn.

Small said: "This way of using the extra financial support allows us to use that richness to make sure that we continue to provide services for the people of Swindon."

He told the BBC the finances were "challenging, but under control" and that the assets would not be "firesales", which refer to sales completed urgently to raise cash.

Over the last few years, a number of councils have found themselves in financial difficulties.

For Swindon, the big pressure point has been its children's services, which were judged inadequate by inspectors in 2023.

Since then spending has increased. This year the department has gone £8m over budget.

"The vast majority of the overspend has been related to children's services," said Small.

"The number of young people that have needed to come into care has increased by a large amount."

Council leaders hopes to get the go-ahead from the government within weeks, before setting the £233m budget on 26 February.

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