Keeping on top of mounting costs at Slough Borough Council is ‘like having a box full of cats’ the councillor in charge of finances has said.

Wal Chahal, cabinet member for finance at Slough Borough Council, said cost-saving and accounting measures had reined in a predicted £12 million overspend this year. But he added that additional costs were ‘coming up across the board all the time’.

Councillor Chahal said: “If I was to say that this first quarter has been a challenge that would be a massive understatement.

“At one point the end of year budget looked like a £12 million overspend.” He said that ‘early identification and intervention’ by finance staff had brought the predicted overspend down to £350,000."

But he added that around £6 million of those measures came from one-off ‘technical accounting’ adjustments.

Council documents indicate these include reducing the amount set aside for uncollected bad debt, which they say was over-provided for, and carry-forwards of reserves.

Councillor Chahal was speaking at a cabinet meeting on Monday, September 16, where he said spending would be an ‘ongoing challenge’. He said: “It’s almost like having a box full of cats, trying to contain those cats – contain the pressures – is very, very difficult.”

Slough Borough Council’s chief executive Will Tuckley added that spending throughout the year would continue to be difficult.

He added that this could become even more challenging next year. He said pressures on temporary accommodation and adult social care were becoming ‘more intense,’ while it was proving ‘extraordinarily difficult’ to service the council’s debts.