Budget overspend in Herefordshire again looms

Herefordshire is heading for another year of over-spending by millions of pounds, a new report reveals.

The report prepared for Herefordshire Council’s cabinet meeting this Thursday (September 26) says that, based on spending in the first quarter of 2024/25 from April to June, the council will overspend its £212.8 million budget by £10.8 million.

But it says planned cost-saving measures should bring this down by £4 million, to £6.8 million.

In the year up to the start of April, the council overspent by nearly £9 million, despite a concerted campaign to rein in costs. The shortfall was made up by drawing on the council’s reserves.

The overspend in children’s services, one of the two largest-spending council departments, was even higher for the year at £11.7 million, compensated for by savings elsewhere.

But the latest forecast shows children’s services spending just £0.7 million over its £65 million budget this financial year – with the goal of saving money on agency social workers reported as “delivered in full”.

The big jump is in what the council calls its central, rather than departmental spending, which is forecast to go £5.3 million over its £16.4 million budget.

The council has ambitious plans to make savings totalling £19.5 million this financial year. But it said it had already made a big inroad into that figure by the end of June, with savings of £8.2 million “delivered”.