Section 114 report issued

We want to let you know about some important news from Nottingham City Council. The council has been facing some serious money challenges, and we need to update our citizens and communities.

The law says that the council has to make a budget and stick to it each year. Despite trying hard to control spending, it looks like the council won't be able to balance the budget for 2023/24. Because of this, the Chief Finance Officer has issued a report called Section 114 under the law to let everyone know about the situation.

This report means that the council has to stop spending money on things that aren't already planned or needed for important jobs. We have to figure out how to fix the budget before we can spend more.

The situation is tough because councils like ours, responsible for social care, are going through a really hard time with money. More people need help, especially with social care and homelessness, and we didn't get enough money from the government to cover all the costs. Also, the council had to use a lot of money to fix problems from the past, like the Robin Hood Energy company stopping in 2020.

Even though it's not the main reason for the money trouble, the council also used money in ways it wasn't supposed to from 2014 to 2020. This means we don't have as much extra money saved up to help with the current problems.

In March, the council had a plan to balance the budget, but things changed, and we're spending more money than planned. The council will have to respond to the report and figure out how to stay within the budget. This might mean we can't provide all the services we usually do, and some things might have to be cut.

We want to be clear that the council isn't "bankrupt" or out of money. We have enough to pay everyone and meet our current responsibilities. It's just going to be really hard to keep providing all the services like before.

Even though things are tough, we want to keep focused on helping our communities and making positive changes. We need to work together as a city to manage these challenges. If you have any questions or need more information, feel free to get in touch with us.

Thank you for your understanding.