Cheshire East is forecasting an overspend of £8.86 million in children’s services because of soaring placement costs and because it set ‘unrealistic savings’ in the budget, writes Belinda Ryan.
Finance officer Diane Green told the children and families committee: “Although numbers of children in care are reducing, the cost of placements in 2025/26 has continued to increase, creating an unbudgeted pressure.”
She also said savings factored into the budget for this financial year (2025/26), such as safe walking route to school schemes, are not fully deliverable due to a link to capital projects.
Cllr Jos Saunders said the savings in relation to walking routes had failed to materialise over a number of years, as had proposed savings relating to accommodation for 18 to-25-year-old care leavers.
She said it begged the question: “Why do we keep putting in unrealistic savings?”
Dawn Godfrey (pictured), who took over as executive director of children’s services in April, said: “I think some of the numbers that were put in initially in the MTFS (medium term financial strategy) did not have fully worked-up business cases that demonstrated exactly how children’s services would be able to make those savings in the context of being an inadequate children’s services within Cheshire East.
“You cannot just take out swathes of savings without understanding the investment also required in order to improve children’s services.
“What we’ve been doing in children’s services over the last three or four months is really going through in detail what the savings profiles are in children’s and completely re-engineering our transformation and improvement plan for children’s services.”
Mrs Godfrey said a big chunk of the overspend had been because the accommodation costs for 16 to 25-year-olds had shot up by 54% this year.
“There’s no growth in the budget that would address 54% because you wouldn’t necessarily expect that, but it’s a direct consequence of an inadequate grading by Ofsted, particularly on our care leavers,” she added.
She said finding safe and suitable accommodation for those who were previously living in unsuitable places comes at a cost because the council was spot purchasing.
She said the block purchasing, recently agreed at committee, would deliver savings in the future “but not at the moment because we don’t have it now”.
Cllr Saunders said the committee needed to start having realistic budgets and she thanked the new children’s boss for being “so candid”.
“We now have some realism,” she said.
“Although the picture looks awful, I would rather have the truth put in front of me so that we can all work together to resolve it, than have unrealistic savings.”
Conservative group leader Cllr Stewart Gardiner said there were outside factors but “at the end of the day, part of the reason why the spotlight is on this committee is the fact a budget set was not sustainable and, for whatever reason that happened, I think we have to make sure that doesn’t happen moving forward”.
Committee chair Laura Crane said the council had a legal and moral duty to look after and protect children.
She said the committee had to make sure the projects put forward by the new children’s boss were worked through and delivered in the coming years “to ensure that we’re in a better place to not overspend in the future”.
The question to me is why accommodation costs have risen 54%. in a 12 month period. No explanation has been provided to justify this fact alone. This is the increase cost for 16 to 25 year olds to quote Mrs Godfrey. No details have been provided. So Mrs Godfrey politely explain to the the tax payers.
The question is what are the reasons behind this figure.
Why the time delay in informing the Council Tax Payers of Cheshire East.
We are still waiting for the revised cost savings plan from the Chief Executive.
Salaries in the public sector are rising by 6.6% where in the private sector the figure is 4.4%
Again the question is why?
Hope the Council Tax Payer recognises 1 in 4 Pounds in council tax is going directly to pay gold plated pensions which have disappeared in the private sector since 1997 under Gordon Brown as the Chancellor.
Yet the tax payer is expected to fund this massive liability.
Where does it end. I have spent time researching this figure, I understand its a total liability 1.6 trillion pounds across the public sector at large.
The tax take is greater than in the 2nd World War.
I am sure private sector management would find cost savings for the tax payer.
There is evidence of poor strategic decisions in Cheshire East from Car Parks to Consultants fees. The list goes on, but when you add it up across local government the amount of money is huge.
The comments re MTFS strategy is damming. What is the CE doing to allow this to happen. The Senior Officers are well paid so we should get better financial control. As we are now over half way into the financial year and a “big chunk” of a 54% over spend is only now being reported needs further comment/explanation from the Chief Executive. Silence is not going to defuse the public’s concern.