Savings on the way as Rotherham Council faces overspend of almost £10m

Council officers are currently drawing up plans to balance the budget.

Financial documents from the council show that overspend will be offset by £5m from its contingency budget, and savings of £3.5m from the council’s ‘treasury management strategy’.

This leaves Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council to find £1.1m in savings in order to balance the books, and it may need to use its reserves to plug the gap.

Children and young people services – £4.4m overspend

The cost of residential care placements for children, home-to-school transport, and supporting children in need means the council’s children’s services department will need to make savings of £4.4m.

The finance report states that there are now 38 unaccompanied asylum seeker children in Rotherham, which has risen from 14 in March 2022.

There are also 511 looked-after children in the borough, with high-cost placements increasing the budget.

Adult care, housing and public health – £1m forecast overspend

The rising cost of adult social care will be offset with a £2m grant, and care staffing budgets are more than £250,000 in the red due to the costs of agency staffing to fill vacancies.

A £2.3m overspend is expected due to the cost of care packages.

An overspend of around £1m is due to the cost of temporary accommodation, although the number of homeless people seeking support is ‘ stabilising’.

Regeneration and environment directorate – £4.5m forecast overspend

An increase in the number of passengers using home-to-school transport, as well as rising costs due to fewer contractors in the market, has led to an overspend of £2.4m.

RMBC says it is looking at ‘lower cost routes’.

The economic impact on the town centre post-pandemic means the council’s parking services are forecasting a £360,000 shortfall.

A pressure of £264k is due to ‘difficult trading conditions’ and empty stalls in the market.

There is also a forecast overspend of £122,000 at Rother Valley Country Park primarily due to the poor summer weather, and £117,000 at the WaleswoodCaravan Park due to flooding in April that impacted pitch availability.

Pressures in facilities management include rising property costs, including repairs and maintenance and fixtures and fittings and an ‘underachievement of external rental income’.