North Tyneside Council is forecasting a significant overspend on its budget by the end of the financial year, with the latest figures predicting a shortfall of just under £11.6 million by the end of April.
The financial position has worsened by £68,000 since June, according to figures running to the end of September. At Monday's meeting of the council's cabinet, members were told that children's services were a key driver of the projected overspend.
Children's Services Drive Cost Pressures
Increased costs for home to school transport for children with additional needs and expensive external children's home placements are primarily responsible for the pressure. There are currently 55 children in external children's homes, with 443 in the council's care.
A report presented to members stated that the pressure continues to be driven by the reliance on "external" children's homes due to a "lack of suitable unhouse arrangements". The council has plans to reduce reliance on costly external placements by expanding in-house provision, with nine new in-house places planned to relieve pressure.
Council Response and Social Care Pressures
Speaking at the meeting, deputy mayor Carl Johnson said: "This is a significant challenge. Plans are in place to improve the position. Key measures that we already have in place, including a halt on non-essential spending, will continue. All the pressures we are seeing now are especially in social care - demand is high and complex needs drive costs up. Our main finance pressure remains children's services. Increasing numbers of people need support."
Pressure on adults social care has also seen a forecasted overspend of £1.5 million, mostly related to increasing numbers of elderly people requiring residential care.
Mayor Karen Clark added: "We continue to face financial challenges. We're working extremely hard to identify appropriate savings. I know there has been a lot of detailed work and thinking that has gone into that process."
