Worcestershire County Council overspent by £7 million last year

Worcestershire County Council has revealed it overspent by £7.3 million in its budget for the 2022/23 financial year blaming the rising cost of adult and children’s social care for spending more than it expected.

The council said it would be filling the gap by again turning to its reserves set aside for adult and children’s social care.

The confirmed £7 million was just over half of the £13 million it was predicting, in December last year, to overspend.

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The council cut £7.65 million of the £8.1 million it had planned to make during the year and is expected to make £22 million of cuts and ‘savings’ this year.

The final bit of budget action was rubber-stamped by the county council’s cabinet at a meeting in County Hall on Thursday (June 29) with councillors also agreeing to tap into the council’s reserves to cover the £7 million.

Cllr Simon Geraghty, leader of Worcestershire County Council, said the £7 million overspend was “slightly better” than what was being predicted.

“Unsurprisingly, like a lot of other upper-tier authorities, we see some, irresistible pressures, demand-led pressures, in adult’s social care and home-to-school transport, as well as pay and price inflation,” he said during the meeting.

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“It doesn’t come as a surprise to us because we have been flagging it up all year, but the outturn position is slightly better than was anticipated so we’ve brought the overspend down from £13 million to £7.3 million.

“Obviously we do need to continue to look at these budgets and make sure they are the right size, and we have the resources for the demand-led pressures.”

LEADER: Cllr Simon Geraghty, leader of Worcestershire County Council

Cllr Marcus Hart, cabinet member for communities and deputy leader of the council, said demand-led social care was the “pressure point” on the council’s budget.

“I’m sure it will be this year,” he said. “And next year, but of course, we will continue to do all we can to manage and predict that, so our cash allocation fits the budget.”

The council’s dedicated schools grant (DSG) reserves, which fund the county’s schools and is made up of money given to the council through a national government formula, are now facing a gap of nearly £28 million by the end of 2024 – rising from the £20 million gap that was predicted at the end of 2022.

At the end of last year, the cash-strapped county council said it was already facing a £13 million gap in its budget as the cost of social care continues to soar.

The council blamed rising costs and inflation for the overspending and the huge gap came despite the authority using millions of pounds from its reserves to plug several gaps and slashing its budget by making almost £5m in cuts.

On top of millions of pounds of cuts, managers and staff were ordered to “slow down or cease expenditure wherever possible” including holding vacancies and stopping “non-essential spend” including buying stationery, subscriptions and attending training events.