Wiltshire Council confirms final 2024/25 financial position with decisive action taken

Wiltshire Council has confirmed its final financial position for 2024/25, taking action to overcome the challenges that many local authorities are facing.

At the conclusion of the 2024/25 financial year, which spanned the period from 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025, the council had a revenue overspend of £4.853 million, equivalent to approximately 1% of the net budget.

At an extraordinary meeting on 24th June, Cabinet will be asked to approve the use of earmarked reserves, which, if agreed, will ensure the legally required balanced budget is confirmed for the year.

Much of the overspend is due to continued challenges in social care that many upper-tier authorities across the country are experiencing, particularly in adult services, where people's needs are increasingly complex. There are also ongoing challenges related to the increased costs of placing children in care.

To manage this throughout the year, the council implemented a number of measures across the organisation, including the management of vacancies to reduce staffing costs, alongside challenging and halting non-essential and discretionary spending wherever possible. These measures remain in place and will continue throughout 2025/26.

During the financial year 2024/25, at the end of the first quarter, there was a forecast overspend for the year of around £8.2m, with the quarter two position showing an overspend of £0.8m. The third-quarter position, based on information as of the end of December 2024, was a forecasted net overspend of approximately £1.7m. At the end of the 2024/25 financial year, the council reported a revenue overspend of £4.853m, representing approximately 1% of the net budget.

Councils hold financial reserves to help support finances in a number of ways, either for known risks or ring-fenced for a specific purpose. Wiltshire Council is prudent in maintaining the reserves required, which is important given the unpredictable national picture. 

Cllr Gavin Grant, Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “As a council we are required in law to balance our books each year. An unexpected, almost £5m deficit, is unwelcome and a challenge.

“To address the overspend we will take decisive action and will plan with certainty going forward. Using reserves is not a long-term effective solution, but they are in place for this very reason.

“We are working closely with officers to look at how we best overcome the social care cost challenges while not putting our financial sustainability at risk. This will include ensuring our contracts are as efficient as possible, meaning people get the quality of care and support they need but at less cost to the council.

“We plan to further strengthen our financial scrutiny with a new committee focused on this area, providing an open and forensic challenge of the budget. This means that no stone will be left unturned in securing financial stability for the long-term so that our communities get the services and support they need and deserve.”

Despite the overspend, the council remains in a stronger financial position than many others and continues to achieve positive financial results for several of its services. This includes increased income for leisure services and that generated from the council’s garden waste collection, which covers the cost of delivering this non-statutory service.

The Cabinet will also be presented with the Capital Programme outturn for 2024/25, which shows that the final capital budget spend stood at just over £177m, significantly more than in previous years – £163.2m in 2023/24. The Capital Programme aims to support the efficient running of the council, with many of its projects due to save significant sums of money in future years.

Some of the ongoing capital projects include building affordable housing, refurbishing the leisure centre, improving the energy efficiency of council buildings and assets, and improving highways and footpaths, as well as transport projects, the A350 bypass scheme, the Fisherton Gateway Scheme, and the Trowbridge/Salisbury Future High Streets Fund projects.

The reports request a further allocation of £0.4m from the Community Infrastructure Levy strategic fund to the Local Highways and Footpath Improvement Groups (LHFIG), which doubles the allocation to £0.8m. This funding will allow communities to decide priorities in their local areas for improvements such as new crossings and footways, as well as speed limit changes.