Nottingham councillors planning another £20m of 'transformative' investment in the city

The council declared itself effectively bankrupt back in November 2023 and a team of Government commissioners was sent in to help steer the authority towards calmer waters.

The commissioners left earlier this year in favour of a reduced form of intervention, with the financial turnaround having been described by them as ‘almost unimaginable’ in their final report.

A balanced budget was set in March for the coming year, 2026-27, and a £25m boost for services formed a part of this.

Debt has been reduced, and a council tax rise was set at the lowest rate in 18 years.

Now, Bulwell councillor Ethan Radford (Lab), deputy leader and executive member for finance, says the authority underspent by just over £20m in the previous financial year of 2025-26.

This money will now be funnelled into services, many of which critics have said had been ‘devastated’ in the years prior.

Coun Radford told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the underspend was down to maximising grants, managing vacancies, reducing debt, and cutting the costs of placements for children in care.

He said: “This is as a result of getting our house in order.

“Most authorities would take that £20m and stick it in reserves, but what we are planning on doing is putting that money to work for the people of Nottingham, and build back Nottingham after 14 years of austerity.

“Just like with the £25m investment package we have already delivered, we would love to use this £20m to invest even further in our services.

"We promised more, we are looking to deliver more.

“Currently we are working up policies to save people money, give our kids the best start in life, go further on cleansing, go further on safety and just ultimately honour our commitment to be the most transformational council in a generation.”

Coun Radford said the investment is intended to go towards support for businesses and the city centre, while he says the council wants to ‘go even further’ on street cleaning following a £3m boost.

There will be more enforcement action, more visible presence on the city’s streets and in the neighbourhoods too, he says.

He continued: “We want people to see the city getting cleaner, we want people to feel safer, but more importantly we want people to see and feel the difference in their bank balance and household budget.

“It will take time to make those changes.

"We invested £25m in the last 18 months, but turning the city around after 14 years of austerity is like turning around an oil tanker.

"We are seeing the benefits of that, but you cannot reverse 14 years of Government cuts from the Conservatives in a short space of time.”

However, over the four-year period to 2029-30, a cumulative budget gap of £37.1m is still expected.

At a full council meeting on July 13, opposition member, Coun Andrew Rule (Ind) said: “The medium term financial plan (MTFP) forecasts significant overspends in subsequent years, would it not be financially prudent to ringfence some of this underspend to mitigate against future pressures?

"And if the executive member disagrees with me, how will you mitigate the forecasted position?”

Coun Radford told the LDRS the anticipated longer-term budget gap was based on a ‘stand-still position’.

He said it does not take into account any increases in council tax, nor does it consider any savings or mitigations.

During the meeting Coun Radford added: “I don’t think it is necessary to use that £20m underspend in the budget to offset any of that.

"I think it is right this authority, out of a budget of about £350m to £400m, can find the necessary efficiencies and savings within that budget in order to meet the gaps that are emerging in the MTFP.”