Cumberland Council Ask Government For £10 Million Bailout.

Cumberland Council will be forced to ask Government for a financial bailout to balance its budget for the year ahead and avoid declaring bankruptcy by issuing a section 114 notice.

The council will be forced to increasing its council tax for residents and making cuts to services to help balance its budget also be asking government for £10,000 bailout in the form of an Exceptional Financial Support.

Since 2020, the government has agreed to provide a small number of local authorities with support via the Exceptional Financial Support framework, following requests from these councils for assistance to manage financial pressures that they considered unmanageable in total only 11 councils have received Exceptional Financial Support since 2020.

The support is provided on an exceptional basis, and on the condition that each local authority is subject to an external assurance review on their financial position.

The reviews provided a detailed assessment of each authority’s financial position and financial management, with clear recommendations on where the authority needs to take action to improve.

Cumberland Council had an in principle £40million Exceptional Financial Support to help it through the first 12 months of the new council.

Now the council is set to ask for another £10 million Exceptional Financial Support from Government for 2024/25 financial year.

Its not clear what will happen if Government refuse the £10 million bailout that would leave a large blackhole in the council’s finances for the year ahead that could result in Cumberland Council having to issue a section 114 notice effectively declaring its self-bankrupt.