Overspend in adult services could be ‘close to £1 million’

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Thursday, 7 November 2019 19:13

By Emily Gill - Local Democracy Reporter

An overspend in adult services could be ‘close to £1 million’ if it wasn’t for Welsh Government funding, a council committee has heard.

A report presented to Monmouthshire County Council’s adult select committee outlined a forecasted overspend in adult services of £186,000.

The council’s finance manager Tyrone Stokes said that, while it accounted for only a small proportion of the council’s forecasted £2.4 million overspend, it could have been significantly higher if it wasn’t for Welsh Government funds.

Mr Stokes said: “The council received £783,000 in grant funding from the Welsh Government.

“Without the grant, the deficit could have been more like £1 million.”

However, Mr Stokes said that the grant was a one-off payment.

The committee chairwoman Cllr Frances Taylor said: “We are doing quite well in not overspending so much and well in terms of savings, but we want to make sure that cuts are not at the expense of the community.”

The council report says that the overspend results from staffing pressures at Severn View care home in Chepstow and pressures within the home care market.

Cllr Taylor questioned why this was the case.

The head of adult services at the council Julie Boothroyd said: “With the challenges of running a care facility which employs around 80 staff it sometimes means there is a shortage.

“Staff may be ill or on training.”

Ms Boothroyd also said that they had been able to pinpoint where the pressures had emerged.

She said: “There are a lot of older parents with adults with learning disabilities still living at home.

“It appears in the last 12 months we have seen a number of people who are now not in a position to be able to care for the adult and we have had a number of residential and supported living packages.”