COST cutting at BCP Council has nearly been completed as 94 per cent of savings have been delivered. 

Cabinet member for finance Mike Cox described the progress made to save £34m in this year’s budget is a “good news story for the council”. 

Ruthless cuts on services, staff redundancies and a five per cent rise in council tax have all meant BCP Council has legally avoided bankruptcy. 

However, it doesn’t mean the authority is out of the woods just yet. Cllr Cox said there are no reserves to fall back on. 

CUTBACKS: Grass cutting has been one of several services reduced by BCP Council to balance the booksCUTBACKS: Grass cutting has been one of several services reduced by BCP Council to balance the books

He said: “Although we have balanced the budget for this year and the next few years, we have zero resilience reserves left to fall back on. 

“The financial position of the council, while being stabilised is still in a weak position and we cannot relax, [but need to] keep a firm grip on the finances.” 

Cllr Cox said the savings, along with £6.75m of unidentified transformation savings, had been “unprecedented”. 

David Brown, cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said the cost cutting “has not been without pain” but is a “really creditable delivery”. 

Savings include about £107k a year from the splash parks, part-funding the air festival for one last time to break even and slashing the opening hours for libraries to save £440k.

Grass cutting has also been reduced, as well as Christchurch’s tip and CCTV and CSAS officers in town centres. 

BCP’s cabinet has also accepted a new £157k grant from Sport England to install photo voltaic (PV) panels at Two Riversmeet Leisure Centre in Christchurch as part of the financial outturn report. 

Andy Hadley, cabinet member for financeAndy Hadley, cabinet member for the environment (Image: Daily Echo)

Cabinet member for the environment Andy Hadley said: “[The leisure centre] is one of our biggest energy users as a site, we’ve already been successful in getting a grant for heat pump installation and better lighting. 

“This is about solar panels, which is a part of the whole climate change agenda in terms of reducing our energy and generating renewably and it’s great to see that investment coming in.” 

As reported, BCP Council spends about £315m a year on public services across the three towns, but this year, due to rising demand on services combined with an increase in costs to provide them, about an extra £12.6 million has been added to the running costs. 

The previous administration had burned through the reserves in their budgets, leaving the Three Towns Alliance – elected in May 2023 – no option but to make the service cutbacks or face bankruptcy.