Peterborough City Council has received a much improved financial report than the one it was getting just a few years ago.

An independent review by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy says the council has made significant improvements to financial management, governance and organisational culture since the serious weaknesses identified in 2021.

That is the good news.

The less comfortable part is that Peterborough is not suddenly financially carefree.

The council sought Exceptional Financial Support from Government in December 2025 and also for 2026/27, giving it flexibility to use borrowing to deal with unexpected high costs while protecting reserves.

CIPFA says the council now has credible plans to move towards financial sustainability and reduce that reliance.

But risks remain.

The council itself says reserve levels are still too low to comfortably absorb financial shocks, and high-cost placements within Children’s Social Care continue to put pressure on the budget.

The review makes 22 recommendations for further improvement.

For residents, this matters because council finance is not just an accounting argument.

It eventually becomes the condition of roads, the availability of services, council tax decisions, care provision, libraries, youth services and how much room there is to cope when something unexpectedly costs more.

So there are two things that can be true at once.

Peterborough Council’s financial management can be significantly better than it was.

And Peterborough can still have very little room for expensive mistakes.

That is probably the sensible way to read the state of the city's finances report.

What is your biggest concern about how the council run the finances in our city?