The authority’s finances were scrutinised at Wednesday’s meeting of the audit and governance board, where a report revealed - shortly after cabinet members agreed a balanced budget for the year ahead - it has usable reserves totalling £273.4m.
In the current financial year, due to end next month, the council identified a need for £7.2m savings to effectively break even.
Covid has, according to the audit report, resulted in £44.6m in additional costs and lost income, counteracted by £39.6m from the government and underspends in non-critical services.
Auditors said long-term borrowing is almost three-and-a-half times the council’s net cost of services, a ‘relatively higher’ proportion that ranks fifth among 33 other local authorities.
The report puts this down to the ongoing town centre Glass Works regeneration project.
