Agenda item

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report outlining the final outturn position for 2009/10 financial year and highlighting the variations which would impact on future years. The Schools’ Budget , funded from the Dedicated Schools’ Grant, had a surplus of £3,165,000 at 31 March 2010.  Time-limited capital grants had funded major schools projects, and as a result a £3,350,000 funding contribution was not required until 2010/11 to fund the Capital Programme.  This underspend was, in part, offset by a cumulative overspending of £185,000 on services including those for children with Special Educational Needs and reimbursements for school staff costs such as maternity cover.  This overspend would be funded from the 2010/11 Dedicated Schools’ Grant.

The controllable part of the non-schools’ budget had overspent by £85,000 (0.2% of the approved budget) after allowing for a £500,000 saving in the schools’ budget from Area Based Grant.  The pressure on children’s social care budgets due to increased referrals which have increased by 149% since 2007/08 and initial assessments which have increased by 88% in the same time period had previously been brought to the attention of Members. Since the last budget monitoring report, there had also been increased pressure from the cost of locums for social worker and senior management vacancies, and additional temporary social workers due to a high increase in the number of referrals and initial assessments.  Management action taken by the Director of CYP Services elsewhere in the overall CYP budget had substantially offset the overspending in social care services.  The report stated the joint view of the Director of CYP Services and the Head of CYP Finance. 

Councillor Nicholas Bennett asked the Head of CYP Finance to explain recommendation 2.2 and the head of CYP Finance provided clarification surrounding the need for the recommendation.

Councillor Nicholas Bennett requested that he was not in favour of this recommendation as he believed that the Children and Young People Department should find the money from within its existing budget.

A Co-opted Member asked about the levels of independent scrutiny applied in respect to the transfer of staff from employment agencies and questioned whether the recruitment of overseas social workers had proven to be successful.  The Head of CYP Finance explained that the Local Authority had experienced problems in securing staff who would be willing to transfer to the Authority from Employment Agencies.  The Head of CYP Finance also reminded the Committee that when staff transferred from employment agencies, a ‘finder’s fee’ might also be payable which could increase the costs faced by the Authority.  In response to the question of overseas recruitment, the Director CYP reported that the Authority had been relatively successful in recruiting from overseas.  14 members of staff had been employed following the American recruitment campaign, and of this 12 remained with the Authority.  The Director CYP explained that due to the social workers personal circumstances they were unlikely to remain indefinitely as they were likely to return to the USA once their partner postings in the UK ended.  The Director CYP also reported that recruitment campaigns were also being held throughout the UK and Europe.

The Portfolio Holder highlighted that the priority was to protect children who were at risk and he stressed that recommendation 2.2 in the report would ensure that schools that were struggling would receive the necessary support.

RESOLVED that (1) the Portfolio Holder be recommended to request to the Executive that it agrees to set aside a sum of £150,000 to enable the Local Authority to deliver its statutory responsibilities to intervene where appropriate with underperforming schools.