Cash-strapped Kirklees Council dipping into 'low reserves' amid Covid-19 pandemic

That is the grim warning from one senior figure who says the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has led to the authority dipping into its ‘low reserves’.

Council’s Cabinet member for Corporate Graham Turner made the statement to a virtual meeting of the Corporate Scrutiny Panel last week.

He said: “The main priority this coming year is how we sort the council’s finances out.

“There’s been a huge drain.

“So far we haven’t received the total amount of money we’re likely to have spent before the end of the year so we’ll be pressurising Government for some more money. Under current plans we’ll probably run out of money by the end of the year. That’s not a position we want to be in.”

Finance chiefs have forecast the financial impact of the coronavirus on Kirklees to be anywhere from £34m to £65m.

The range of the figures reflect ‘the fluidity of emerging Government measures’ to mitigate the spread of infection, and the subsequent timing of easing of social distancing measures.