Solihull councillors have been told tough decisions will need to be made to avoid the council going effectively bankrupt as a latest £1.4m overspend went under the spotlight.

The authority's finances has been a hot topic among councillors for years as the Conservative-run administration has battled annually to balance its books, which is a legal requirement.

Setting out the position for this current financial year, which runs until April next year, the authority's director of resources Andrew Felton said officers were projecting an "adverse variance" against the council's budget of just under £1.5 million.

"In the context of a £244m budget that is under one per cent, so normal variation for a council our size and complexity," he said.

"It is still an overspend though so we track that and make sure we are moving in the right direction."

At the meeting of resources and delivering value scrutiny board on September 8 he told councillors the current overspend was about half the figure of the overspend at the same point last year.

"We managed to come in (last year) at a net underspend of £7m," he said.

Earlier this year the director warned there was a risk the council would end up needing to seek permission from the government to increase council tax by up to 9.99 per cent in future years.

Cllr Kathryn Thomas, the chairperson of the scrutiny board, highlighted that in a report to the committee officers wrote: "There is already a significant funding shortfall in both 2027/28 and 2028/29.

"Clearly, to set a balanced budget for 2027/28 there will need to be difficult decisions on agreeing where savings can be made.

"In the event insufficient savings can be identified and agreed, and if exceptional financial support (from government) is no longer deemed a viable option or is rejected, the Section 151 officer would be in the position of having to consider issuing a Section 114 notice."

A Section 144 notice means a council is effectively bankrupt as it is unable to balance its budget, and can't commit to any new spending.

"That sets out how serious our financial position is going forward," Cllr Thomas said.

Cllr Robert Johnson asked: "How close are we to a Section 144?"

Mr Felton replied: "It ultimately depends what decisions you as members take as we go through the budget process.

"If we make what could be a set of difficult decisions, admittedly and politically, as well as some difficult service decisions as well, then potentially we could get to a balanced position.

"The only way currently to address that (funding) gap is to raise council tax closer to the national average.

"Otherwise we are saying we are prepared to cut services quite significantly."

Later in the meeting the officer mentioned the Reform UK group's recent consultation asking residents which services should be protected and cut.

"There may still be savings we haven't considered," Mr Felton said.

"More than happy to take those options on board and see if they can help bridge some of the gap.

"I can guarantee they won't go to the full extent of the gap we have got though."

Cllr Dave Pinwell, the cabinet portfolio holder for resources, said: "In February the (council) leader made it quite clear whilst a high level of council tax increase was included in the medium term financial strategy, that was not an intention."

"It would surprise me if we as members didn't want to reach a position where (next year) we could put the best possible council tax rise position in front of our residents on the basis we have been able to identify future savings that are sustainable and will not diminish services to an unacceptable level.

"It is up to us over the next six months to work together to get to that point."

The councillor added business rate retention and the fair funding settlement from government were key reasons for the ongoing financial issues.