Notts county council to spend summer finding efficiencies and savings

The authority’s cabinet met on June 23, for the first time under the new Reform administration to discuss plans for its finance and highways reviews, and priorities for the county.

Addressing the cabinet, council leader Mick Barton (Ref) said that a “full review” into the authority’s financial management, procurement and contracts will go ahead over the summer to find ways of saving money.

The council’s current Mid-Term Financial Strategy indicates a funding gap of £18.5 million over the medium term, which is usually about three years.

Coun Barton also said the review would “draw on external enterprise” where appropriate in the review.

The leader already clarified to the Local Democracy Reporting Service the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – an initiative started within President Donald Trump’s US administration, which looks at reducing government spending – will help the council and its staff to identify savings.

Coun Stuart Bestwick (Con) said he has “some serious concerns” with the review.

One of his concerns was with the review aiming to – according to documents – “explore opportunities for ‘invest to save’ wherever possible”.

He said: “We’ve seen in the past some local authorities have used ‘invest to save’ schemes for projects like buying expensive hotels, which cost the taxpayers millions and delivering questionable returns.

“I want to be reassured this review will not be used to repeat those mistakes on a larger scale. What does invest to save actually mean in this context?

“Most importantly, who will be accountable if they go wrong or do not provide the returns required? I’d like reassurance, on behalf of all residents in Nottinghamshire, that this won’t become a back door to risky capital spending, under the guise of savings, and that this administration will not be gambling with taxpayers money.”

No response from the Reform group was given in the meeting following Coun Bestwick’s concerns.

But Coun James Rawson (Ref) asked: “There were concerns around external support, primarily around data protection, how do we expect to manage those concerns?”

Coun Barton reassured that “people should not be worried” about data leaks.

He said: “We’ve taken legal advice on how to conduct this review and how to bring the external support in – we will be following that legal advice so no information shall be shared that is sensitive, we will follow the data protection rules and will not breach our information, governance and regulations.

“I have assurances that if we use external support, no data will leave this building or be shared – people should not be worried in any instance that their personal data is at risk.”

The leader said he anticipates the review will be completed in time for the next financial year’s budget deliberations which will start in the Autumn.

The review was approved by the cabinet.