The financial challenges facing Swindon Borough Council could become ‘existential’ if actions to cut costs are not successful, experts from the Local Government Association have said.

But they also said that the leadership of the council is improving overall.

A report to the council’s Labour cabinet next week will outline the assessment by the LGA’s peer challenge review team

The very start of the LGA report pulls no punches about the state of the authority’s finances: “An overarching challenge that dominates is the fact that the council is facing a burning financial platform – for 2024/25, a cost pressure of around £9m is forecast but tangible mitigating actions are not fully identified and tracked to ensure a balanced budget position is achieved in year with no impact into 2025/26.

“Some officers and members still seem to have an over-optimism bias and assume that the issue will be solved because this is the nature of the budget cycle, but without targeted action, the current financial crisis could indeed be existential for the council.”

Other findings were that the new political administration, allied with a largely new senior leadership team of officers, is making a difference:

“The new leadership at SBC is driving tangible cultural change, resulting in a council that has a real sense of positivity and where members and officers work well together, providing effective organisational leadership, which was reflected through our engagement with staff and partners.

“It is evident that the new leadership team – both members and officers – have prioritised resetting the organisational culture and they have done this to good effect with those that we spoke with describing an open, transparent and collaborative organisation.”

It said of the council’s Swindon Plan – which aims to  develop the town, that there was “a concerted effort to work with partners, residents, colleagues and members to develop the Swindon Plan and the leadership should collectively reflect with pride on both the ‘Let’s Talk Swindon’ engagement exercise and the resulting plan.”

The three main recommendations of the review are to get a grip on this year’s budget, agree on a programme for the delivery of the Swindon Plan and refocus on the council’s internal transformation programme to ensure efficiencies are delivered.

Authority leader Councillor Jim Robbins, said: “The review does talk about the financial situation – but those issues are common to councils all over the country.

“Otherwise, I’m pleased it says that we are heading in the right direction. This administration is focussed on making sure the council continues to build on the progress made over the past 16 months.”

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