Warrington bans “non-essential” travel to avoid S114

Warrington Council has announced a ban on all ‘non-essential’ travel and recruitment as it tries to avoid bankruptcy.

The local authority is facing a £28m overspend due to lower than expected income from commercial property and rising costs for social care and homelessness.

Leader Hans Mundry insisted that the council is not in a ‘worse situation than other councils’.

The local authority also plans to fill only essential vacancies and introduce tighter controls on overtime and agency staff costs.

Failure to implement these measures could lead to the council considering a Section 114 notice, a council report warned.