Mid Sussex District Council transferred £715,000 to help plug a budget gap forecast for 2024/25

The money was left over from last year’s budget and will be placed in the general reserve.

Leader Robert Eggleston said: “Officers have worked extraordinarily hard to control costs in a difficult environment and we’ve also benefited from a significant increase in treasury management income due to the increase in interest rates which has led to last year’s surplus.”

The next financial year does not look so bright, with Mr Eggleston describing inflationary pressures on the budget as ‘significant’.

The council’s medium term financial plan forecasts a £605,000 budget gap in 2024/25, rising to £3.233million in 2025/26 and £3.281million in 2026/27.

Anne-Marie Cooke, cabinet member for finance, revenue & benefits, said the cumulative effects of inflation would continue to add to costs, while the impact of government policy when it came to the distribution of grants and business rates ‘may well impact on us’.

Looking to the setting of the budget for 2024/25, which was formally started last week, she added: “In this difficult and volatile climate, we will be focussed on ensuring that good financial stewardship is achieved through our budget and corporate plan while doing all we can to support our residents through this cost of living crisis.”