Dudley council set to stay at bottom of savings league

Despite claims of turning the corner on a financial crisis, Dudley’s top councillors are warning there still a long way to go.

A meeting of the council’s cabinet on June 19 discussed the latest report on the authority’s monetary health which indicated a better performance at the close of the financial year in March than had been predicted.

The report was welcomed by cabinet members and Labour’s opposition councillors but they were told the council was still rock bottom when it comes to savings.

Cllr Steve Clark, Dudley cabinet member for finance, said: ”I am pleased to report the financial position at the end of the year was much better than reported in February 2025 by £9.7m and is now £21m underspent.”

He added the authority had not needed to spend any of its reserves which were an amount equivalent to 5.1% of its net budget of £332m. The average for metropolitan councils like Dudley is 30% in reserve and Cllr Clark added: “We acknowledge the finances remain fragile and further work is needed to bring our reserves closer to the average of our nearest neighbours.”

Dudley’s interim director of finance, Clive Heaphy, told councillors any spare cash went first to top up reserves, He added: “The authority is poor in terms of its overall reserve level, when you compare us to metropolitan borough councils our current reserves are at the bottom of of all metropolitan councils in the country as a percentage of net budget.

“The plan is to take us to £50m in reserves which sounds a lot but that will still leave us at the bottom of the league table.”

Labour’s finance spokesperson, Cllr Shaukat Ali, could not attend the cabinet meeting but told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the council is still ‘treading on eggshells’. Cllr Ali said: “The biggest concern for me is around £5m on staff savings where it boils down to the fragility of the council’s workforce and the quality of services that people can expect in the face of increasing service charges and council tax.

“Now the council is charging residents and tenants they have a right to expect a high standard of service, people are saying it is not being done to their expectations.”