Government chiefs have given the council almost £15 million to cope with the coronavirus crisis. 

This extra cash follows a £10.6 million support package funnelled to Buckinghamshire Council in March. 

Council leader Martin Tett welcomed the extra funds after bosses at the authority initially expected to receive much less than they eventually did. 

He told the Bucks Free Press: “It’s good to get something from government and it plugs some of the gap for the moment. 

“We thought we would get £7-8 million but we got nearly twice that, which is really good news. 

“The downside is it’s still less than what we are spending at the moment. 

“We’re still going to struggle but on the other hand it’s a really good helping hand.”

The coronavirus crisis has put huge strains on local authorities across the UK as income streams “fall through the floor”. 

Reports from last month indicated bosses at neighbouring authority the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (BRWM) were considering issuing a section 114 notice. 

This notice bans all spending at an authority except for expenditure on service for vulnerable people — it was used in Northamptonshire two years ago when the county council there was in dire financial straits. 
 
BFP asked Cllr Tett whether this action was being considered at Buckinghamshire Council and despite acknowledging the “significant financial challenges” the authority was facing, he said issuing the notice ‘was not a probability.’

He added the council has not been forced to touch its approximately £45 million in financial reserves — money saved for emergency situations — but “there is a need to very carefully monitor our spending against our income and work out whether we will in the future need to.”

He added: “I’m hopeful we won’t but we don’t know that yet. 

“Our income has fallen through the floor. 

“We’ve stopped charging in car parks, that’s not coming in. Planning applications used to be a big source of income. That’s not coming in.

“We have a big property portfolio where we used to get rent. By and large, that’s stopped because those businesses just aren’t functioning.

“We have significant gaps in our budget in terms of income, we have significant gaps in terms of planned savings. 

“People think the council is not doing anything. 

“Actually we’re doing a phenomenal amount but I’m very conscious a lot of people don’t see that. 

“For some people, if the only thing you really see is if your bin gets collected or potholes get filled I get entirely the perception nothing much is happening. 

“That’s just not the reality. We are working flat out to support the most vulnerable.

“They need to shielded and looked after to make sure they don’t suffer as a result of this lockdown.”