Issue - meetings

  Report CEF23055

The report presented the budget monitoring position for the 2023/24 financial year which showed a projected overspend of £6,612,000 forecast on the controllable budget based on activity to 30 September 2023.

The Head of Children, Education and Families Finance outlined a number of factors contributing to the overspend including the increasing level of demand and delivery costs in a number of areas including Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) transport, special education provision and high needs placements in Children’s Social Care.  A Member stressed the importance of innovation in addressing these pressures, including expediting any existing proposals within the Transformation Programme that could help manage costs going forward.  Another Member queried the escalation in the cost of high needs placements in Children’s Social Care and was advised that placements in this area were increasingly expensive as local authorities competed to secure the limited available places for a rising number of young people with specialist needs.  The Director of Children, Education and Families confirmed that work was undertaken across all services to reduce costs and maximise efficiency.  This included the recent optimization of SEND transport routes alongside the use of personal budgets and travel training which had helped mitigate a recent increase in demand as well as enabling a number of Bromley’s children and young people to benefit from increased travel independence. Other workstreams included participation in a Pan London Vehicle to develop a secure children’s home for London and forward-thinking recruitment practices to maximise the proportion of permanent Children’s Social Care staff, including overseas recruitment. 

Moving forward, a key focus would be placed on innovative practice across all services and could include looking at ways to increase the number of in-Borough placements for young people at risk of criminal or sexual exploitation and exploring the potential for the Local Authority to establish its own specialist facilities, such as children’s homes where a viable business case could be made.  A Member suggested that the possibility of establishing an in-house SEND Transport service be revisited in light of the recent increase in demand and inflationary costs. 

RESOLVED: That the Portfolio Holder be recommended to:

1)  Note the latest projected overspend of £6,612,000 forecast on the controllable budget based on information as at September 2023; and,

2)  Recommend the Council’s Executive agree the release of funds from the Central Contingency as set out in Section 5 of Report CEF23055.