Waltham Forest council is set to agree its budget for the new financial year at a meeting later this evening.

The council looks will make another round of cuts to some services as it attempts to balance the books when it discusses its budget at a meeting today (Thursday, March 2).

The budget comes as the local authority faces yet another round of funding cuts from central government.

A council increase of 1.99 per cent, the highest the authority can agree without a local referendum, is also set to be discussed at the meeting.

In the past seven years, the council has made cuts worth around £92 million from its annual budget.

Key factors in the proposed budget include:

  • A cut of £4.5 million in the budget for adult social care
  • A £2.1 million cut in the budget for children and family services
  • A reduction of £2.6 million on corporate expenditure
  • A £6.7 increase in funding for IT services at the council
  • A £1.4 cut in the council’s neighbourhood services budget

The council also hopes to make somewhere in the region of £5.2 million from parking, transports and CCTV services next year, up from the £4.7 million it raked in during 2016/17.

Council leader, Cllr Chris Robbins, has branded government spending plans, calling new cuts “unsustainable” at a time when local authorities are already “under huge financial pressure”.

Cllr Robbins said: “While the lack of new council funding in the 2017/18 local government finance settlement came as no surprise, we cannot simply shrug our shoulders and pretend it’s acceptable.