£13m council overspend not ‘error’ but a sign of social care pressure
A council insider says the overspend was the result of a departmental “error” and has directly led to a number of cuts in the forthcoming year’s budget
A £13m overspend in Cornwall Council’s adult social care department has led to a political war of words with one of the Duchy’s Labour MPs accusing officers of “covering up the elephant in the room”.
A council insider has also told us the overspend was the result of an “error” within the department and has directly led to a number of cuts in the forthcoming year’s budget.
However, both the council’s Liberal Democrat leader and a spokesperson for the authority have denied the overspend was an error or even unexpected, and is a direct result of continued demand and pressure on adult social services.
The £13m overspend in a quarter of the last financial year was first mentioned to us by Noah Law, MP for St Austell and Newquay, when defending accusations from the council’s Lib Dem / Independent cabinet that its budget forecasting had been hampered by a lack of fair funding from the Labour government.
Mr Law raised serious concerns that officers failed to brief the council’s cabinet on the £13m adult social care budgetary pressures. He said the in-year pressures only became clear to members in mid-January, despite information being available from December.
He said: “Council officers have claimed to be hard done by in a ‘cut’ to an Excel spreadsheet from last summer when, in reality, Cornwall is getting significant investment from national government. At the same time, they are covering up the elephant in the room that is their adult social care expenditure.
“I do actually feel for elected councillors and the new administration because it is not their fault they are being fed dubious numbers and have inherited a mess.
“This is down to poor forecasting and a failure by unelected officers to properly brief cabinet on the true scale and trajectory of pressures in both adult and children’s social care, leaving little room for flexibility.”
A council insider, who did not want to be named, told us the £13m overspend was an “error” by officers and echoed Mr Law’s comments that the council’s Lib Dem / Independent cabinet was not advised until January of the budget concern, even though it was known within the council last year.
The overspend has led directly to a number of cuts in the 2026/27 budget, they added.
Council leader Cllr Leigh Frost denied that was the case. “That’s a half truth really. It was on the risk register for a while and then it crystallised into a bit of a perfect storm, particularly around mental health issues in working age adults.
“There was a real increase over the Q3 period, which is what caused the overspend. They’ve done mitigations in year savings for it, but they haven’t been able to cover it all off which has meant some of it has had to roll into next year’s budget.
“The risk was there but I don’t think anyone was expecting it to turn from risk into pressure.”
A council spokersperson told us: “Reports on council finances are presented and discussed regularly at public council meetings, with the risk of overspend for adult social services noted in early 2025 and ongoing discussions and monitoring throughout the year.
“This was not an unknown issue, nor was it the result of an error.
“The overspend reflects the continued demand and cost pressures across the sector, which may have been impacted by a number of factors, including complexity of need and employment costs within the social care market; from significant increases to employer national insurance contributions, to changes to international recruitment and retention.
“Our ongoing priority is to ensure that the most vulnerable people in Cornwall are supported, whilst spending every penny wisely.”
The council has to make cuts and savings of over £154m over the next three years in order to balance the books, with £59m alone this year.