Latest news with #overspend
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Wirral leader says 'nothing swept under carpet' in regeneration probe
"Nothing will be hidden" from investigators probing a council's troubled regeneration programmes, its leader has said. Paula Basnett, who became leader of Wirral Council in May, announced an internal investigation of the Birkenhead town centre project early into her regeneration works in the town are behind schedule and over budget, with the council expected to borrow £8m to cover a rise in costs to £24m. Ms Basnett, who is a councillor for Rock Ferry, said the council needed to get a grip on the situation. "I do think that we have to understand why it's been delayed and why there was an overspend. Our residents are entitled and should be made aware," Basnett said."I walk up Grange Road and I see the work taking place. I see the impact it's having on our businesses. I see the impact it's having on our residents."They want to be able to enjoy shopping and browsing around the shops." The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the works, taking place across the entire town centre, were £2.8m over budget the day a contract was were so concerned that on 21 July they decided not to approve any further funding until investigations had said on her election as leader that improving neighbourhoods, sorting out the council's finances, and getting regeneration back on track were her three main priorities."I won't be brushing anything under the carpet," she said."[The investigation] will be open and transparent. We will be holding officers to account."Our residents are entitled to hear what has been going on and I fully appreciate that once we do have those findings, it will be out in the public domain."The findings are expected later this year. Basnett said she hoped the outcome of a wider review would set out realistic timelines and costs, allowing councillors to prioritise projects. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
£5m year end overspend 'better than forecast' but council warns of more choppy waters ahead
A council says a £5m overspend on its budget for day to day costs in the last financial year was better than forecast. A financial 'outturn' report summing up Redcar and Cleveland Council's fortunes come the end of the 2024/25 period said the £5.075m it went over its allocated revenue budget had been an improvement of £1.56m on the figure it predicted in the final quarter. Without any cost saving measures the £5m plus figure would have been £12m. READ MORE: Family of dad who died after being hit by car 'living life sentence' after driver's trial dropped READ MORE: Girl, 7, left with brain injury after hanging upside down on galloping horse The recent report for council cabinet members admitted the stated overspend was still 'substantial' and pointed out a number of 'key drivers' that have been repeatedly cited over the past several years, including high demand and complexity for children in care cases; increased home to school transport costs; use of agency workers due to children social care worker recruitment challenges, and increased fleet hire and waste management costs. It said steps were taken in year to implement a package of control measures, including a focus on stopping non-essential recruitment, non-essential expenditure and optimising the use of external funding. These helped mitigate the pressures faced and reduced spending, although 'significant amounts of reserves' were still required to fund the residual overspend position - in order to balance the books as legally required. The report said a remaining reserve for use over the term of the council's medium term financial plan - typically five years - stood at just £2m, which was 'extremely low'. It also referenced a previous warning of how the next two years would be a 'critical period' where the council must be extra vigilant regarding its financial position. Meanwhile, the council's 'transformation programme' aims to save £8.8m in 2025/26 with 88% of the £7.5m savings targeted in the previous 12 months being achieved. The council said that delivering the programme while eliminating unnecessary spending would help protect the jobs of current staff, minimising the need for service reviews and potential reductions in numbers. The report went on: 'With regard to the most significant pressures currently being experienced with children's care placements, initiatives continue aimed at trying to address the causes of children needing to be taken into care in the first instance, with a particular focus on more complex needs that often result in high-cost placements being required. 'A key theme of the transformation programme is focused on increasing the level of in-house provision available whilst the authority continues to work closely with local suppliers to identify further opportunities to enhance the provision of locally based solo and dual placements to negate the need to incur a high premium cost for these types of placements, whilst seeking to minimise the length of time these placements are required for individual children. 'Whilst these plans are progressing, it is now envisaged they will take a little longer to implement leading to a forecast delay in the associated savings.' It suggested Government funding reforms which prioritise deprivation and need would be of benefit to the local authority, although there would be a limit to the scale and pace of any funding distribution arising as a result. The report highlighted how every council department bar children and family services spent less in 2024/25 than their allocated budget. However these gains were wiped out by the £12.8m budget deficit in the children and families directorate, driven by expensive residential and supported care placements with the number of children in such placements rising from 75 to 82 in the last financial year. For Redcar & Cleveland news direct to your inbox, go here to sign up to our free newsletter
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Guildford Borough Council overspent by £1.6m on fire safety scheme
A Surrey council has overspent by £1.6m on a major fire safety project after failing to work out how many fire doors needed replacing, it has been from incomplete data left officers underestimating how many doors needed replacing in Guildford Borough Council's housing stock, according to a revealed that the council had already spent £4.1m on the scheme – above the original £2.5m contract further expenditure needed to complete the project would bring its total cost to £6.5m, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Council leader Julia McShane labelled the unexpected cost a "slight overspend", but emphasised the importance of fire efforts to shore up fire safety follow a self-referral to the regulator of social housing in 2023, which came after the council had admitted it was not fully compliant with building safety standards.A C3 rating, flagging serious weaknesses in the council's oversight of its housing stock, was the new doors, additional blocks and fire safety improvements were added mid-way through the project, increasing costs the overspend, no extra funding is being asked for at this stage, with the costs set to be covered from elsewhere in the capital Wrobel, joint chief executive of the council, said: "Whilst it is frustrating we did not catch this before breaching the budget, at the very least, we caught it very shortly afterwards."
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Extra £15m to cover healthcare overspend approved by Tynwald
An additional £15.3m in funding to cover the cost of an overspend on healthcare last year has been approved by Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) asked for the sum at the final sitting of the parliament before the summer recess to cover spending by Manx Care in a debate lasting one and a half hours, several members criticised the department's continuous DHSC Minister Claire Christian said the DHSC had "identified areas of further efficiency which will be developed and implemented" this financial year. Among members who stated they would not support the supplementary vote was Onchan MHK Rob Callister, who called for a "fundamental review" of Manx Care's said "difficult conversations" were needed after the healthcare operator had repeatedly overspent and needed extra funds each year since it was created in April 2021. Calling for "reform, change and restructuring", he said Tynwald had become "an open cheque book" and they had reached a "critical junction".His views were echoed by Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Tim Glover who said "enough is enough".He said: "We're just going to stand here and vote £15.3m through as if it was perfectly normal.""Get your act together," he rising to speak was Douglas North MHK John Wannenburgh, who called the situation "nothing short of ridiculous" and blamed the overspending on budget also argued a full breakdown of where the overspend had come from was needed, calling for a review of the "bloated management" within Manx Care and the DHSC. Christian said Manx Care was "still going through a great deal of growing pains" and the DHSC had worked on "tightening spending controls".She said in the 2024-25 year, the healthcare provider had saved £13.4m through its cost improvement was through reducing bank and agency staff, optimising medicines, workforce management, review of high-cost contracts, reducing supply expenditure and increased commercial income, she she said despite this "spending exceeded the amount allocated for the services outlined in the mandate for the year" and further work was "still required to achieve more efficiencies".The minister said she wanted "solutions" from Tynwald members and asked them to help avoid the same situation arising the following motion carried, with 18 votes for and five against in the House of Keys, and seven for and one against in Legislative Council. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
The Independent
14-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Council overspend on social care highest in decade amid warning over NHS plan
Recent overspend by councils in England on their adult social care budgets was the highest in a decade, according to a major survey. The annual report from care leaders warned that due to the current state of the sector – which campaigners have long argued has not been prioritised or had adequate investment – the Government's aim to shift more care into the community could be undermined. The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass) said the financial situation 'is as bad as it has been in recent history' with council overspend on adult social care budgets in the year to March hitting around £774 million. This was up from £586 million in the previous year and is the highest level for at least a decade, Adass said. Its survey – which had responses from 91% of directors of adult social services in England – also showed care leaders have reduced spending on prevention by 11% this year. Just 5.6% of this year's total adult social care net budget is projected to be spent on prevention. Adass said this lowest recorded spend is because overstretched budgets mean care leaders have had to prioritise immediate needs and people in crisis. Earlier this month Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting unveiled their 10-year NHS plan which they vowed would 'fundamentally rewire' the health service and put care on people's doorsteps. The plan set out how the NHS will move from treatment to prevention and from hospital to more care shifted into neighbourhoods and people's homes. But Adass president Jess McGregor said: 'Without more investment to keep people well and independent at home, we risk undermining the shift towards prevention and neighbourhood health that Wes Streeting, the NHS and this Government are rightly championing.' The overall overspend is 'likely to result in councils further tightening the eligibility criteria for social care, so they can deliver their legal obligations, leaving very little left for preventative measures that would likely save the state money in the longer term and most importantly, improve outcomes for people', Adass said. Ms McGregor said: 'The maths simply doesn't add up – more people are coming to councils for help and their care is complex and costly, which means we don't have funds left to provide the early support and prevention that would stop people's health from deteriorating and help them avoid spiralling into crisis, where they frequently end up in hospital.' The spending review published last month stated there would be an increase of more than £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028-29, compared with 2025-26. But Adass said there remains 'uncertainty' about what that figure covers, including whether it takes in the 'much-needed but costly fair pay agreement for care workers', which is yet to be set out by the Government. Ms McGregor repeated a call for social care to be prioritised, saying: 'It's vital that adult social care leaders who are well versed in delivering support at the community level are meaningfully involved in decisions about where and how resources for neighbourhood health and care are spent. 'After all, acute hospitals are not best placed to deliver social care at the neighbourhood level – but councils are.' The Local Government Association (LGA) said the survey results show 'councils are caught in the impossible position' of choosing between meeting people's complex care needs and supporting other's wellbeing to prevent needs escalating. The LGA added: 'Local government is best placed to lead this shift and deliver neighbourhood-level care, but it cannot do so with one hand tied behind its back by underfunding.' Mr Streeting has previously said social care 'has to be part' of neighbourhood health, adding: 'In the context of this plan, social care features because it has a role to play on admission avoidance and speeding up delayed discharges.' The Casey Commission, launched earlier this year, aims to set out a plan to implement a national care service, but social care leaders have previously raised concerns over the potential timeline of 2036 for some recommended reforms to be introduced. The first phase is expected to report in 2026, although recommendations from the initial probe will be implemented in phases over the course of 10 years. The second phase of the commission, setting out longer-term reforms, is due to report by 2028. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We inherited a social care system in crisis but in our first year of government we have taken immediate action to improve this. 'The spending review will allow for increased funding for social care by £4 billion, we have legislated for the first ever fair pay agreement for care workers, and Baroness Casey has begun her work on the independent commission into adult social care to build a National Care Service that is fair and affordable for all. 'We have also invested £172 million extra in the Disabled Facilities Grant to deliver around an extra 15,000 home adaptations and given unpaid carers a £2,000 uplift to their allowance.'
