Concerns raised over council's £11m overspend - driven by 'eye-watering' care costs

-Credit: (Image: Stoke Sentinel)
-Credit: (Image: Stoke Sentinel)


Councillors have raised concerns over their authority's £11 million projected overspend - driven largely by the 'eye-watering' costs of children in care. Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been working to bring down its spending on children's services, helped by £42.2 million in 'exceptional financial support' (EFS) from the government.

But opposition councillors say there is little sign that this work is succeeding, with the latest financial report predicting an £10.99 million overspend this year. Labour council leaders are urging patience, saying there are some 'green shoots' of improvement, with the number of children in care falling slightly from 1,156 to 1,148 in the three months to June.

This is not yet showing up in the council's finances, with the children and family services directorate projecting a £7.1 million overspend this year. Members of the strategy and resources scrutiny committee grilled council chiefs on the overspend and asked what was being done to turn the situation around.

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Councillor Dan Jellyman, leader of the Conservative group, said the opposition had supported the council's bid for a two-year EFS package, part of which is being used to boost early intervention services to stop children coming into care. He said: "We're almost 12 months in and so far those numbers have only come down fractionally, and the key bit is, they're not coming down on the high cost placements.

"You look at savings approved in 2021, under the previous administration, and it says in the notes that they're not actually going to be achieved, or not fully achieved.

"So time's running out. We know the structural reasons for the gap we face. It's not the fault of any one party - these issues have been around since the unitary authority was formed in 1997. But what actual steps are being taken to turn this around? We supported you to have those two years, but so far things aren't changing."

Councillor Alastair Watson, cabinet member for financial sustainability, defended Labour's approach, saying the council was moving social services to a preventative model that would eventually cut costs. While the reduction in the number of children had been small so far, Cllr Watson said that preventing just one high cost placement could save up to £250,000.

He said: "The previous model was unsustainable. I'm not convinced that the previous administration was as on the front foot in terms of prevention as we are being. The numbers show what's happening - there was an oil tanker sailing out into the ocean showing no signs of turning. If you look at the situation now, there's a small reduction in the number of children in care.

"There's a counsellor in Discovery Academy, and two more will be in other schools, helping young people to be more resilient. The legal department have been allowed to release a couple of agency lawyers, because the number of children going into proceedings has reduced a little bit. So I would urge patience in terms of expecting to see the results now."

Councillor Ross Irving suggested that the council would have to look at more cost-effective ways of looking after children in care.

He said: "We've moved from a situation where children in care were in large establishments run by the local authority, to one with smaller group homes. Socially, that is the way forward. But when you see some of the prices paid for these group homes. When individual placements are costing up to £250,000, surely we've got to be asking ourselves if the way forward is still this model. I don't want to see us going back towards larger children's homes, but are we able to sustain this sort of cost? These amounts are eye-watering."

In addition to the projected overspend on children's services, the adult social care directorate is facing pressures of £2.1 million, with a £1.3 million overspend on housing benefit, mainly related to people in supported accommodation and bed and breakfasts.