A senior county councillor is to consider bringing in a team of specialist accountants, as part of a potential bid to secure financial assistance from the government.

Next Tuesday (June 10), Cllr Nick Bennett, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for resources and climate change, is due to decide whether the authority will commission the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) to undertake a Financial Assurance and Governance Review.

In a report to Cllr Bennett, officers set out how a CIPFA review would likely be required should the council approach the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to explore options for Exceptional Financial Support (EFS).

While the council has not yet formally agreed to seek EFS, officers say the CIPFA review — set to cost £40,000 — would either provide support for an EFS bid or else “external assurance” on the steps being taken to address its financial challenges.

Cllr Nick Bennett, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for resources and climate change. Pic: Contributed

placeholder image — Cllr Nick Bennett, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for resources and climate change. Pic: Contributed

In the report, a council spokesman said: “If EFS is an option that the council needs to access in order to set a balanced budget for 2026/27, CIPFA will need to be engaged to provide the necessary assurance to MHCLG.

“CIPFA have been approached to undertake their assurance review early, to provide the council with a report that will support the work that the council may need to undertake with MHCLG.

“If EFS proves not to be required, or an option, the CIPFA review will provide external assurance as to the actions the council is taking to address the financial challenges the council faces.”

Papers for the meeting also include a draft document from CIPFA, which gives some indication of what the review process could entail. This document says the CIPFA team would work with the council to draw up an improvement plan after assessment.

Officers say the review’s findings would also be used to inform the county council’s annual budget-setting process.

The proposal comes in the context of some significant financial uncertainty for the council.

In their report to Cllr Bennett, officers highlight how there are several “significant unknowns” at a national level which could impact the authority’s finances, such as the outcome of the upcoming comprehensive spending review and potential changes to the way grant funding is allocated across different councils.

Officers also note how the authority’s medium financial plan, when it set its last annual budget in February, warned how the council faces a potential deficit of more than £37 million in the 2026/27 financial year.

EFS could be one way to bridge this funding gap.

EFS packages from the government have typically taken the form of capitalisation directions, a measure which allows councils to take out capital loans to fund revenue expenditure.

Capital expenditure typically concerns one-off spending on fixed assets, such as the purchase of land, equipment and buildings. Revenue expenditure, meanwhile, concerns day-to-day spending, covering the costs of running the council’s services, including staff salaries and utilities.

Funding for these two categories of spending come from different sources and cannot generally be used interchangeably. For example, a council could borrow money to cover the costs of building a school, but couldn’t borrow money to pay teachers’ wages.