Agenda item

Mr Oakford, Deputy Leader, Zena Cooke, Corporate Director for Finance and Emma Feakins, Chief Accountant were in attendance for this item.

1.       Mr Oakford introduced the item. He told Members the 2022/23 budget had been prepared amongst increased spending pressures and complexity following the pandemic and invasion of Ukraine. He reminded Members that spending growth forecasts had been based on the inflation data at the time of the budget and that the risk reserves established in 2021 & 2022 were made available to mitigate the risks in the 2022/23 budget. He told Members that during 2022/23 the provisional revenue outturn position was an overspend of £44.4 million. He told Members there were significant overspends in Children’s, Young People and Education of £32.7 million and in Adult Social Care totalling £24.4 million. He explained that the overspend would require the full utilisation of the risk reserve of just under £25 million with the remaining £22 million being drawn from the general fund reserve.

2.       Members asked the following questions.

a)       A Member asked how much was currently in general reserves. Mr Oakford confirmed that £35 million was left in general reserves.

b)      A Member commentated that the report was a comprehensive analysis and praised the amount of work that had gone into the report and its clear presentation of information. The Member raised concerns about the rate at which the budget for Adult and Children’s Social Care Services was growing year on year. The Member said that these areas would need to be reviewed and a leaner service provided in future. The Member raised concerns at the amount needed to be drawn from the reserves and the difficulty ahead in balancing the budget.

c)       A Member raised concerns over the use of short-term beds and the high amount this was costing. With £30 million spent on this the Member asked if the money would not be better spent finding a long-term solution. They also raised concerns over the cost of supported living and asked why better provisions were not made for these services. They told the committee that given the number of people crossing the channel and entering Kent these services should expect growing demand and asked how the influx in migrants had impacted services. Mr Oakford responded that a comprehensive review into social services was underway. He said that he had concerns over how much of the Council’s budget was being spent on a small percentage of the population. He also raised concerns by the way in which the NHS discharge patients and then transfer contracts for their beds to KCC and that this had accounted for much of the temporary bed costs. He also told the committee that the costs of looking after children had increased drastically and many of the children cared for in Kent came from other authorities including London. On migrants he said the cost of direct care was covered by central government, but costs had risen due to demands on education and other services supplied by KCC that could be accessed by Children. Mr Oakford told Members that he  had been liaising with Kent MPs to ask them to engage with Ministers to get support for the county in areas of increased cost due to the county’s unique geography. He raised his concerns that if the budgets for adult’s and children’s social care were not brought under control the council’s overspend would reach a dangerous point.

d)      A Member raised concerns over the Faversham Swing Bridge they asked why the Medway Ports Authority were not contributing towards the costs of the project. Mr Oakford responded that KCC were responsible for a road across the body of water but that this could be a fixed bridge, however an agreement had been made many years ago.

e)      A Member commented that they would like to have seen how many service users are supported by each service to better understand costs per person. They raised concerns about the NHS discharge system and told Members they hoped more people could be discharged to their homes. Mr Oakford told Members that his team were looking into this and trying to find a cost per head for people per service to identify where costs are accrued. He told Members he was keen to find discrepancies and identify areas for savings.

f)        A Member told the committee that they didn’t believe the Council got value for money from the sale of its assets. Mr Oakford responded that the approach was to maximise the value for each piece of property and that this had been effective. He told Members that KCC look at whether buildings can be better utilised internally before it is decided to sell them. More recently this has included whether property being converted into accommodation would save KCC money.

g)       A Member asked for assurances that proper assessments would be taken before cuts were made. They also asked whether the cabinet Member had looked at the opposition’s alternative budget. Mr Oakford told the committee that he had requested that Finance report were put on every cabinet committee agenda and that he intended to make cabinet members more responsible for the financial aspects of their brief. Mr Oakford told Members that the opposition budget was not a full budget and did not pass the rigorous tests required. He raised concerns over the deliverability of the opposition budget, and he reiterated the need to deliver savings quickly to deliver a balanced budget. The Chair interjected that he would like to see better cross-party co-operation on the budget. A Member added that the budget proposed by the opposition parties would not be sufficient to respond to the scale of problem facing KCC.

h)      A Member commented that they hoped efficiencies could be found to allow money to go further. The Member raised concerns about KCC’s financial situation and asked the Cabinet Member when he would learn how much would be provided by central government. Mr Oakford responded that they would only find out how much they would receive from Government late into the year.

i)        Ms Cooke told Members that the concerns were real and serious. She told Members they could not afford to overspend in this financial year and decisions must be taken very rapidly to bring the council finances to a reasonable position. She told Members that the plan was to replenish the reserves over the next 2 years to the minimum required and this too would cost significant amounts.

j)        A Member raised concerns over commissioned services and the lack of scrutiny and accountability of these contracts.

k)       Mr Oakford concluded, expressing his wish that opposition Members engage with him at the earliest opportunity. He reiterated that ideas must be deliverable and that the Council must work at speed to solve the financial problems.

RESOLVED that the Scrutiny Committee note the report.