Council warns of 2025-26 ‘cliff edge’ unless more Government cash is committed

Leaders at Hull City Council warn their city faces a “toxic cocktail” if there is no new support from the Government to help deliver vital services.

The leader of Hull City Council, Councillor Mike Ross, and the leader of the council’s Majority Opposition Group, Cllr Daren Hale, have written jointly to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove, alongside other ministers, demanding a meeting with the Government.

In the letter, they have urged the Government to make long-term financial commitments and warn of a crisis in 2025-26 unless more cash is committed.

Hull City Council is supporting the Local Government Association’s #SaveLocalServices campaign, where the LGA has described council finances as being “under strain like never before.”

The LGA points out that pressure on council budgets is mounting with spiking inflation, high energy costs, and increases to the National Living Wage, while demand for services continues to rise.

In the letter, councillors Ross and Hale say: “It is expected Hull will be able to set a balanced budget and maintain vital services over the next 12 months.

“Without additional Government support, this will not be the case from April 2025 and the council will be unable to maintain the services needed to protect our most vulnerable and rightly expected by our residents.

“Without national level intervention, we are facing the inevitable consequences of increasing demand, the escalating costs of service delivery and failure at a national level to adequately fund local government over the last 10-years and to distribute the available funding in line with need.

“Put starkly, without additional Government support, we will not be able to support our residents with the services they need and deserve.

“While the council has worked tirelessly to balance its budget in increasingly difficult circumstances, we are reaching the end of the road.”