Bristol City Council could face a funding shortfall of up to £87.6million within five years, cabinet papers reveal. The authority announced last Tuesday (September 27) that it needed to find an extra £31million next year to balance the books as a result of soaring costs and inflation and demand for services.
But an additional report published two days later, which will also be considered by members on Tuesday (October 4), includes a “worst-case scenario” where the gap for the 2023/24 budget is double that, at £62million. It then rockets to £83.8million the following year before climbing steadily to a peak of £87.6million in 2027/28.
The forecast also includes a best-case projection for the deficit of £13million for the 12 months from next April and staying relatively stable before hitting a high of £14million in five years. The £31million figure given by the council last week was the expected shortfall for 2023/24 in the “base-case” scenario, which is the most “realistic”, the report said.
