£9.3m more debt in West Berkshire – children’s costs blamed
Five children in care who cost the council £3m a year
West Berkshire Council has lurched further into debt – reporting a £9.3m overspend for the first three months of the financial year.
The impact of volume and rate increases in children’s services is the main reason.
Details in the council spending show there are now five children in care who cost the council £3m a year.
It has 24 ‘clients’ at an average cost of around £500,000 a year.
The council currently has a General Fund Reserve of just over £10m, which has been built utilising previously requested Exceptional Financial Support from central government.
Current spending would effectively reduce the council’s General Fund Reserve to about £1m, taking the fund under the recommended level as being financially sustainable.
Alongside the General Fund the council holds approximately £4.6m of revenue reserves, created through EFS.
West Berkshire Council leader Jeff Brooks (Lib Dem, Thatcham West) has said he is “comfortable” with the council’s financial position.
The comment came after Conservative opposition leader Ross Mackinnon challenged Mr Brooks at Tuesday’s resources and place scrutiny committee over the scale of the budget problem and who should take responsibility for it.
Mr Brooks accepted that the overspend was a problem but declined to describe the position as a financial crisis.
He repeatedly pointed to national pressures in children’s social care and decisions taken by the former Conservative administration.
“Of course, I am not comfortable with the increased demands on children coming into residential care costing millions of pounds,” he said.
“But I am satisfied that we are making the savings budgeted across the council and that aspect is what I am comfortable with.”
Mr Mackinnon accused the leader of applying different standards of accountability to the two administrations.
“Jeff Brooks has repeatedly held me accountable for the financial figures when Conservatives ran the council,” he said.
“Now his administration is forecasting a £9.3m overspend after just three months, apparently responsibility lies everywhere except with the people currently running West Berkshire.
“Of course there are serious national pressures in children’s social care.
“But those pressures do not remove the responsibility of the administration that sets the budget and runs the council.
“The leader says he is comfortable with the council’s financial position.
“I suspect many residents will find that extraordinary when the forecast overspend is £9.3m.”
Mr Mackinnon also challenged Mr Brooks over last year’s independent review of the council’s finances by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), the professional body for public finance and the UK’s local government accounting standard setter.
The review was commissioned by the council as part of its request for Exceptional Financial Support from the Government and examined West Berkshire’s financial resilience.