Headlines: Merseyside council facing £23m budget black hole, firearm incident in Liverpool city centre

A Merseyside council say they are facing a £23 million budget black hole in the coming years.

In a report produced ahead of Thursday’s cabinet meeting at Bootle town hall, Sefton Council said the gap between grants received from the government and spending is projected to be nearly £23 million.

In March, a £27 million shortfall was predicted for the period 2022- 2025, with the council originally projecting a funding gap of £11.5 million in 2022/23, £8.2 million in 2023/24 and £6.9 million in 2024/25.

However, officers now say the figures are more likely to be £10.9 million, £7.6 million and £4.4 million respectively, reducing the deficit by nearly £4 million over the three years compared with original forecasts.

The report states the update has been made after taking into account announcements made in the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review of October 27.

While the council’s updated three year plan “represents the best financial picture that is available to the Council at this time” the report says that “significant uncertainty” persists as to actual government funding available and from local issues arising due to the pandemic, which may mean the figures will need to be revised again at a later date.

Man arrested and gun seized after 12hr standoff at Liverpool hospital

A man has been arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm after 12-hour standoff with armed police outside Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

The 61-year-old man from Speke was detained and medically assessed this on Thursday morning before being arrested.

He has been taken into custody for questioning. A handgun was seized and will be forensically examined.

Cheshire Police warning of the dangers of carrying imitation firearms

Following some recent incidents, Cheshire Police has released a video warning people of the dangers of carrying BB guns and imitation firearms.

The force wants to highlight how dangerous the situation could be for someone carrying an imitation firearm who may mistakenly think they are just ‘just having a laugh’.

Insp Iain Hannan from the Cheshire and North Wales Firearms and Dogs Alliance said: “My firearms officers have to treat every call as genuine and a life and death situation. They have to make very quick judgements to protect both the public and unarmed officers from serious harm.

“You might be messing about with your mates and waving the gun around, thinking it’s a harmless bit of fun, but when a report comes in of a male with a gun in a public place, my officers have to make a call as to just how much of a threat you are.

“They have to decide if the firearm is real, and it can be hard to tell from a distance. You don’t want to be in a situation where you have firearms officers pointing real guns at you, and they don’t want to be in this position either.

“So please, before you head out with any imitation firearm or BB gun, think - don’t put yourself in what could be a very dangerous situation.

“There is also the potential you are committing a criminal offence, which could get yourself a criminal record for what may seem like harmless fun.”