Latest news with #overspend
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Wiltshire Council's care for vulnerable adults behind £5m overspend
"Inconsistencies" in the social care department has resulted in a council spending nearly £5m more than it planned last Council's final review of financial year 2024/5 recorded an £4.85m overspend, which is largely down to unforeseen demands of "adult services where people's needs are increasingly complex".Former Conservative leader, councillor Richard Clewer, said he had "become increasingly concerned" that officers in adult social care had "repeatedly" called this issue a "one-off". He also queried why the numbers were "jumping all over the place" and no one seemed able to explain why."Something's clearly gone very badly wrong inside adult social care," he added. At an extraordinary meeting on 24 June, cabinet members will be asked to approve the use of earmarked reserves which, if agreed, will ensure the legally required balanced budget for the 1% of the total revenue budget, the 2024/25 overspend is above what the authority is used "the underlying financial position of Wiltshire is hugely better than the vast majority of our surrounding councils," councillor Gavin Grant, cabinet member for finance, costs of placing vulnerable children in care has also contributed to the overspend, the council said. The authority's latest analysis found "inconsistencies" in its own data of how adult care costs are being managed. Councillor Grant said to address the overspend, the council "will take decisive action" and using reserves "is not a long-term effective solution, but they are in place for this very reason"."We are working closely with officers to look at how we best overcome the social care cost challenges while not putting our financial sustainability at risk. "This will include ensuring our contracts are as efficient as possible, meaning people get the quality of care and support they need but at less cost to the council," he council plans to establish a new financial scrutiny committee so other councillors can assess the books in public later this year.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Agency staff spend puts Swale council £900k over planning budget
A shortage of planning professionals is one of the reasons a Kent council has overspent by £900,000 in the past year, a report has Borough Council, covering Sheppey, Sittingbourne and Faversham, spent £1.24m on planning in the past financial year, despite budgeting £337,000 for the told the council's policy and resources committee meeting on 12 June that the overspend was "largely driven" by the cost of agency staff paired with a drop in Angela Harrison said she was getting "déjà vu" over the high costs despite other departments "shaving to the bone". Local authorities receive money from developers when they submit planning applications but Swale council's head of place Joanne Johnson said it was "very hard to predict" planning councillors thought the issues were predictable and the authority should have planned properly for them, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.A shortage of planning professionals has caused issues for councils nationwide for some January, the Home Builders' Federation reported 80% of the 134 councils it asked were operating below full capacity."An estimated 2,200 planning officers are needed across England and Wales to address the gap," it said.A Swale council spokesman said its planning department should have 34.3 full-time equivalent roles and there were currently five reasons for the overspend included over-budget appeals process 2024-25, Swale set aside £23,600 for paying appeal costs, but overshot this by £139, Mike Baldock said: "Even though we have a very high success rate at appeal we can expect there to be a high level of appeal costs. Any appeal is going to cost a considerable amount of money."A Swale spokesman said in 2024-25 there were 45 appeals against council decisions, of which 31 were ruled in favour of the local authority.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cash-strapped council 'not out of the woods'
A council that overspent by £5m last year said it would be "crucial" to avoid a repeat occurrence this time around. Peterborough City Council said it exceeded its £220m net revenue budget in the 2024 to 2025 financial year due to challenges such as high interest rates and delays in selling off assets. In a report being presented to councillors on 17 June, the authority said the coming financial year was going to be "difficult and challenging". It said: "Despite the improvements made, the council isn't out of the woods yet." The authority is currently in the process of selling assets to pay off debts, having already sold a football stadium, shopping centre and farmland in recent years. It expected to bring in £23.7m from asset sales last year but only received £10.3m after a delay involving the sale of a "large asset". The report said the council had been working to reduce spending last year by reviewing how it used agency staff and only spending where essential. It highlighted "significant pressures" in some areas, including in children's social care, where a £3.2m overspend was put down to a significant rise in the number and cost of placements. It said there had been a rise in the number of homeless people needing temporary accommodation, costing £1.7m more than expected, with 117 people in B&Bs in December 2024. Leisure services contributed to a £1.7m overspend and high interest rates, coupled with delays in selling off assets, added £1.9m to borrowing costs. These areas were partially offset by other areas where the council underspent or made savings, but still left a £5m gap. The council warned that its reserves were lower than required as a result, meaning it would be less able to respond to "financial shocks or an emergency". Reserves have dropped from £70m at the end of 2023 to £20.6m at the end of 2025. The council said it had made improvements in a number of areas including in-sourcing services and reviewing or closing council-owned companies. Councillors have been asked to note the council's financial position at the meeting on 17 June. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Council sells £50m worth of assets to repay debts Nepalese community centre to reopen in city Council approves 316 homes as part of development Peterborough City Council
BBC News
29-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Cheshire East Council: Rising adult care costs behind overspend
Soaring demand for adult social care has played a large part in Cheshire East Council (CEC) overspending its budget, the local authority has government has stepped in to grant the council £17.6m in exceptional financial support (EFS) for said it would use the funding arrangement to balance its books for the financial the largest overspend has been in adult social care, the council also said there were pressures in children's services and rising borrowing costs associated with funding pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). EFS allows councils to use a system known as capitalisation, which can allow them to borrow money or treat some day-to-day spending - known as revenue costs - as longer-term capital such, it essentially gives local authorities more flexibility about budget has faced financial difficulties in recent years, with the government recently issuing a formal notification of its year, the council signed off a transformation plan which aimed to save nearly £100m. 'Rising borrowing costs' In a report to councillors, CEC said the £17.6m adult social care overspend was down to rising costs of individual placements.A £3.5m overspend in children's services was attributed to there being more youngsters in care, the use of agency staff, and rising home-to-school transport council said it had come in under budget in a number of areas, chiefly in staffing while there had been an underspend in its highways and transport department, car parking revenues had been lower than services for SEND children are funded through a Dedicated Schools Grant, Cheshire East currently has a deficit in this area, meaning that the borrowing costs to provide them have been forced approved by councillors at a meeting on 3 June, £9.8m of the £17.6m EFS money will be allocated towards meeting the 2024-25 is proposed that £5.3m will be put in an earmarked reserve to cover the costs of CEC's current change programme, while the remaining £2.5m will go into the council's general this year it was announced that CEC was granted £25.3m in EFS for the 2025-26 financial year. See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
