Agenda item

Please refer to the budget book published and shared on 3 January 2023.

Zena Cooke, Corporate Director (Finance) was in attendance for this item

1) Mr Oakford outlined the report. The settlement KCC was to receive from government was better than had been anticipated.  However, it fell short of what was needed to balance the budget. There were still enormous pressures due to inflation and the demand within Adults’ and Children’s Social Care. Growth spending demand had increased by £216 million, £64 million being KCC’s base budget pressure and prices at around £70 million. KCC needed to find around £40 million worth of savings. There was increased income within the budget of £16 million – this was where KCC was having to increase its charges for services and there was still the need for a draw-down from reserves in some areas in order to balance the budget.

Insecure funding was normally put into reserves but had been diverted into KCC’s base budget. The budget assumed that all of the savings for 2023-2024 would be delivered and it was acknowledged that that savings were not always achieved in the past. A £12 million risk reserve had been included in the budget to offset savings not achieved. The 4.99% council tax increase had been assumed in the budget.

2) Mrs Chandler said statutory and Early Help services were being prioritised in line with budget consultation responses from residents.  There had been an increase in demand, in terms of complexity and of population. However, it was recognised that while there had been an increase in children in care, this increase was not as substantial as in much of the country.

Savings were to be made in Children’s Services by reducing the authority’s dependency on agency staff, continuing efforts in relation to recruitment and retention of social work staff. There were also a range of efficiency savings including reviews of placements, Early Help, Open Access, legal services. There were some services that were being incorporated into mainstream social work. There were to be changes to services for Care Leavers to encourage independence by age 19 and there had been a decision made to remove grants to Local Children’s Partnership Groups.

3) Mr Love said that they had sought to protect schools’ annual enhancement and maintenance budget for high priority projects and had made provision to cover the current year’s overspend. There was investment in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities with provision for increased SEN home to school transport costs. Inflationary increases had been factored in throughout the budget and it was recognised that there were limited opportunities for savings within the Education and Skills portfolio.

4) Further to debate, it was noted that:

·       Information was requested around the review of the Practice Development Service as well as changes to the budgets for Early Help and Preventative Services. Concerns were raised that the information and level of detail given to Members of Cabinet Committees was insufficient and that in the past, detailed analysis was produced for each Cabinet Committee to have a fuller understanding of the effect of the budget on individual services.

·       Queries were made about the effect of the Safety Valve Agreement on the budget and some Members felt that without more detail, it was unclear how the budget was affected. It was highlighted that it was the Department for Education’s approach for these details not to be publicised.

·       It was suggested that the savings proposed in relation to SEND were unachievable and that Members were being asked to agree a budget without a full picture in relation to the SEND deficit and the Safety Valve. It was suggested that Members were being asked to take what was being proposed ‘on trust’. Concerns were raised about the possibility of a Section 114 Notice.

·       A summary of the Section 151 Officer’s responsibilities and powers was given and the process around the issuance of a Section 114 Notice, as well as a summary of actions moving forward. There was to be close monitoring to ensure there was not a repeated overspend and action was to be taken to restore KCC’s reserves.

·       Questions were raised about how children were to be kept at the centre of CYPE’s work and the effect of the budget on staff morale.

·       Budget changes around services to Care Leavers were focussed on accommodation and support for the young people to have independence in this regard at an earlier stage- as KCC’s duties were that Care Leavers were in safe and suitable accommodation but not to subsidise housing.

·       There were questions around services provided to schools and it was confirmed that schools had the choice not to use those services provided by the authority through The Education People.

·       It was questioned whether KCC had sufficient assets to deliver its services.

5) RESOLVED to agree the recommendations as outlined in the report.