A council is being forced to make major cutbacks as it is forecast to overspend by £11 million this year.
Brighton and Hove City Council says the former Green Party administration built “a budget on sand”.
The Greens drew up a budget for the 2023 to 2024 financial year just before they left office, which Labour said will put the council £11 million further into the red as it was based on assumptions.
Councillor Jacob Taylor, deputy leader and finance, said: "It's becoming obvious to me that this Green budget was built on sand.
“The last administration made assumptions in their budget that just weren't realistic. You can't put parking charges up for ever without eventually hitting demand.”
The city council says it has implemented “emergency financial measures” to bring spending back under control.
“These include a pause on hiring and controls on large payments,” said Cllr Taylor.
“While we don't want to take these emergency measures, we believe acting early and decisively is the best way to try and prevent another overspend."
But the city council said it is not letting the Green Party’s budget get in the way of working hard to improve Brighton.
“Despite the difficult financial circumstances, the new Labour council is focused on delivering the changes residents asked for in the election,” Cllr Taylor
“Money is short but I think we're showing what a focused, hard-working council can do when they actually listen to what residents want.
“We've reopened public toilets across the city, restored the lifeguard service and started cleaning up our streets and public spaces."
READ MORE: Brighton Green councillors overspent council budget by £3 million | The Argus
The £11 million budget deficit forecast for the 2023 to 2024 year is in addition to the confirmed £3 million council overspend from 2022 to 2023 that we reported just last month.
Statistics discovered by the new Labour council in Brighton and Hove found that the previous administration had burst the annual budget for the first time “in many years”.
The financial black hole left by the Green Party came to a total of £3.02 million - equivalent to around £11 for every person who lives in the city.
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