Q

Can the finance officer explain how this £17 million overspend has
come about, when presumably you struck a balanced budget in April?

A

We did set a balanced budget, but there was an overspend in Adult Social Care costs and around £5 million in Children’s Social Care, mainly due to a rise in the number of children going into residential care and foster care, transport costs, and a downward trend in income.

Q

£17 million is an enormous amount of money.  What is the % of the overall budget?

A

It’s a very small percentage of the £600 million budget.

Q

From my limited understanding of finance, you either have to get more money or you have to make more efficient use of the money you have.  Two options the Council might have would be to list the services you can cut, or top slice by 10% and let every department take a cut. 

A

[Chair]:  The Council is consulting with the whole of the Borough, and the next agenda item is Budget Consultation.

Q

Who decided what was non-essential?

A

The Chief Executive and the new Director of Finance, in agreement with Chief Officers, drew up a list of items of essential and non-essential spending and using pre-determined criteria decided to freeze, suspend, or approve the expenditure.  The process will be subject to close scrutiny by elected members. 

Q

The essentials and non-essentials should be listed. 

A

Each decision taken will be published, and can be questioned. 

In an overview of the budgetary situation, Councillor Sullivan stated that the senior officers have been very competent in their approach to addressing the overspend.  Consultation on the budget finishes on 19 October and no decisions will be made until all the responses received are collated.  He urged everyone to fill in a questionnaire.  The Council is also facing problems caused by a reduction in Government funding. The Council has released £20,000 to each area forum to spend on road safety.

Q

Could you not foresee you would have reduced income on car parking etc?  I understand the 20 mph limit is not enforceable.  Is there any point in spending that money when no-one will take any notice?

A

[Chair]  The 20mph limit is enforceable. 

Councillor Johnston explained that the Council set targets for savings.  Wirral has 679 children in Care, which is double the national average.  Currently, the overspend is £15.4 million, but it is starting to move in the right direction and the Council has transferred £7 million to reserves.  He was confident that non-essential spending will go back into spend. 

Q

[Community Representative].  What is the cost of child care to the Council?

A

The departmental budget is about £70 million, the greatest proportion of which is spent on Children’s Social Care.  [Examples were given of the costs per week of taking a child into care]. 

Q

[Community representative].  Any questionnaire is a ‘wish list’.  You are asking for comments, but we need to know what it costs.

A

There are five papers on line which show the spending on staffing etc, broken down by Department, which people can look at before they fill in the questionnaire.

Q

It’s now October.  Why wasn’t something done before, ie in the first month, to reduce this overspend?

A

The new Director of Finance has introduced a new way of working which will highlight issues sooner rather than later. 

Q

Is there any chance the budget might be realigned next year?

A

Wirral has a large number of Looked After Children and a statutory responsibility to care for those children. 

Q

The area co-ordinator said information is available on the Internet, but not everyone is on the Internet.  The free half hour has expired in the time it takes to log on in the library.

A

Council officers are very aware that not everyone has access to the Internet and they try to ensure that alternative means are used to engage with members of the public and to keep people informed. Information is available on the back of the consultation document and a hard copy will be sent out to anyone who requests it. 

Q

I’m conscious that Children’s and Adult Social Care cost a fortune, and a massive number of children have gone into care in the past few years, but you should have known about those children when you set the budget.

A

[Chair].  Circumstances can arise suddenly in families where children need to be taken into care and the Council has a statutory responsibility to look after those children.  The Council is being more transparent, and elected members are receiving figures monthly, instead of at the end of the year.

Q

Can you tell us specifically what happened to the £17 million?  Was it a series of families?

A

£10 million of the overspend was in Adult Social Care to meet the increasing costs of providing for adults.  Children’s Social Care has 3,000 open cases – it’s not possible here to identify all the variables – but providing for those children impacts across the whole Council in various ways.

[Councillor Sullivan]:  There’s a new administration – new people at the top – and the Chief Executive had assured the Councillors that the new staffing structure will save a third of management costs.  The 17 million overspend which has built up over the years has not disappeared, but that situation will not continue because of the austerity measures put in place.  These are the facts and it’s important that everyone is clear.  We think we have acted responsibility, and taken the right decisions to sort it all out. 

Q

Does the £17 million include the financial transactions for senior officers in and out, or is that a separate item?

A

[Councillor Johnston] The costs of a compromise agreement, for example, or pension costs, early retirements, are separate because they are spread over five years.  The reasons for the overspend are 1].  we have not realised all the savings; 2. unexpected expenditure, and 3. some of our income has gone. 

Q

You have a 3% overspend of £17 million on a budget of £600 million.  Will you have to save the 3% plus government cuts?

A

The first step is to balance the budget for this year.  The Director of Finance has given all departments savings targets for next year.  The Council has not been notified yet of the settlement from the Government for next year.