WILTSHIRE Council predicts a budget saving of over £10m while it looks to find ways to plug future shortfalls.

For the current financial year, the council set a £412m budget and is predicting an underspend of a little over £10.7m.

The budget recognises the impact that the pandemic has had on areas of council revenue such as leisure.

However, the problem was never balancing this year’s books and the underspend will help bridge any gaps.

The most recent forecast sees the local authority with a shortfall of £39.6m for the next financial year (2022/23).

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This is down from £40.9m which was forecast earlier in the year.

Cllr Pauline Church said that work was being directed to deliver budget savings to help the council further close the coming gap.

Leader of the council said that over the past year the council had been “brought back from the abyss” of the pandemic.

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The latest cabinet report shows that the council has failed to make over £8m in savings. Some £7m of these savings was reset when this year’s budget was originally set.

An overspend on the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) has been calculated. Again, this is due to pressures from the high-needs block and is “aligned” with the national picture.