Scepticism has been expressed over whether proposed savings in Southampton City Council’s transformation programme are achievable.

The project has now identified the potential to deliver £50 million of recurring savings by 2028/29.

This was up from a target of £42.65 million set when the programme was approved by cabinet in July.

Labour council leader Cllr Lorna Fielker told members of the overview and scrutiny committee at a meeting on October 24 that savings were already being delivered, which would reduce the structural deficit in the 2024/25 budget.

Conservative group leader Cllr Peter Baillie said some of the assumptions in the savings had not been achieved anywhere in the country.

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He added that the projections had not built in any financial pressures for three years.

Cllr Baillie said: “Whilst you can ask us to have confidence, you are asking us to have confidence about things which don’t ever seem to have been achieved anywhere in the country, so maybe that is why we struggling to have the confidence you have.”

Cllr Fielker said she did not expect Cllr Baillie to have confidence.

She said: “Your job is to be critical.

“The work that has been done here in the council feels there is confidence in those savings so we will work forward and we will look to achieve them.”

Labour committee member Cllr Steve Leggett also questioned some of the targets, including a significant drop in the use of independent fostering agency placements and reducing the number of children in care.

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Cllr Fielker said a lot of work was being done to change the way the local authority’s children’s and adults’ services operated.

“We have for many, many years not delivered on savings,” Cllr Fielker said.

“We have not done those things but we are in a very different place as an organisation and we know that things are working by looking at where our budget for this year.

“The amount of underspend in this year’s budget is also something that has never been achieved before in the history of this council and we have achieved that and we will continue to do the work and to make sure that we are testing.”