A comprehensive review of Leicestershire County Council’s spending has identified potential additional savings of up to £60 million, on top of the £44 million already built into the council’s four‑year budget plan.
The findings are set out in a new report published today (Friday), following a detailed, independent review aimed at helping the council close a projected £85 million budget gap.
The review was led by Newton, a specialist consultancy, and examined the council’s £616 million net annual budget. Experts found that significant efficiencies could be achieved while simultaneously improving outcomes for residents.
Newton estimates that between £32 million and £60 million in further savings could be delivered through a package of reforms designed to boost independence, reduce crisis demand and strengthen frontline services.
The report highlights a wide range of measures that could substantially reduce long‑term costs, particularly within high‑demand services.
Proposals include expanding social care teams to support people to live more independently for longer, strengthening the adult social care market, intervening earlier to prevent people reaching crisis point, and creating additional residential care capacity.
Together, these measures aim to reduce reliance on expensive emergency and acute interventions.
Beyond social care, the review points to further savings across the organisation.
These include stepping up support to help children remain safely with their families, securing better value from commissioned contracts, and making greater use of data, artificial intelligence, and digital technology to improve decision‑making and service efficiency.
Newton and council officers have benchmarked performance extensively against other authorities to identify where improvement is realistic and deliverable.
The council has emphasised that proposed changes are not solely about cutting costs.
Service improvements identified by the review include better support when people are discharged from hospital, giving frontline staff more time to focus on direct support, and improved joint working with NHS and voluntary sector partners.
Leaders say aligning savings with service quality is essential to managing ongoing pressure on public services.
The review began last winter and involved in‑depth analysis of millions of lines of financial and service data.
Newton and the council also reviewed case files for hundreds of residents, worked closely with service leads, and assessed each proposed reform based on deliverability, scale of savings and wider benefits.
The report concludes that change is both necessary and achievable if pursued through a coordinated, long‑term improvement programme.
Dan Harrison, Leader of Leicestershire County Council, said:
“Simply put, this is about making every pound of taxpayers’ money work harder.
“And not only that. We care and by working smarter, we can do even more to improve our residents’ lives and protect the services they value.
“This is a pioneering project and no stone has been left unturned. This work opens up opportunities we can explore to reduce costs further over the next few years.
“It’s a starting point and opens the door to further opportunities.
“Residents expect us to grip our budget and reduce costs and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
The next phase will be the development of a new, large‑scale Change and Improvement Plan, setting out priority initiatives, timescales, and a supporting resource plan.
This programme will form the basis for how the council delivers further efficiencies while protecting essential services.
Alongside the efficiency review, anticipated national changes to SEND funding are expected to significantly reduce the council’s remaining budget gap.
Taking both factors together, the council says its financial position is improving, with new budget proposals to be published in December.
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