“Positive work” to stop overspend

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Thursday, 25 October 2018 15:44

By Emily Lloyd - Local Democracy Reporter

“Positive work” is ongoing to stop an overspend by Shropshire Council this year.

Officers confirmed last month that an overspend of £6.7 million was being predicted based on the financial report for the first quarter of 2018/19.

Councillor Roger Evans, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat group, yesterday asked what is being done to bring that amount down.

He said: “This was for the first three months, actions will be taken because having £8m in reserve is far lower than it should be and I would expect officers to note some actions.”

James Walton, head of finance, confirmed work was ongoing but couldn’t give the figures for the second quarter of 2018/19 before they go to Cabinet at the end of November.

He said: “What we are seeing is an overspend in the children’s sector and an overspend in children’s services. There’s not a lot you can do with that service area to bring down that cost and overspend.

“There’s also overspend in place and enterprise, and there’s things we can do around that, such as the impact of severe weather reserve, looking at what can be spread out over a long period of time.

“Adult services – the cost of social care is growing rapidly and that is starting to grow outside the model we have produced which has helped for the last three years, but there has been some additional one-off funding from the government which will help to bring down the spend but at £1.3m it helps but it’s not an answer and certainly not long-term.”

Mr Walton added that work is also continuing to look at vacancies and where savings can be made.

He said: “It is all being worked through and will be reported back to Cabinet in November.

“I can’t give the figures but this is positive, getting ourselves towards a more balanced final figure.”