Tameside council is expected to dig deep into its emergency funds in order to balance the books by the end of the year.
The latest meeting of town hall bosses was told how the local authority is currently forecast to be £9.2m over budget.
Finance boss Cllr Hugh Roderick explained that the council’s reserves are likely to be used to cover this budget deficit. Currently the reserves total £27.5m, but are expected to be depleted £18.3m by the end of March, unless cost savings can be found in the next two months.
Coun Roderick told the latest executive cabinet meeting in the Tameside One building how children’s services, adult services and a failure to cut overall costs has resulted in this budget deficit.
The biggest overspend is in children’s services. According to council papers, children’s social care has a forecast overspend of £7.175m due to workforce costs and increased demand for placements.
“We are using reserves to a sustainable level,” Cllr Roderick said. “Due to a fortunate government settlement, we are looking to a position next year of not calling on reserves but putting money back into our reserves. We are in a much more stable position than we were 18 months ago.”
Adult social care boss, Cllr John Taylor, explained how his department’s overspend is due to an increase in complex cases coming in. He said “it is the right thing to do” to put money into looking after vulnerable people.
Children’s boss Cllr Teresa Smith, explained that her overspend is due to running a huge improvement plan, which is proving to be producing real change. She added that money is being saved through the reduced reliance on agency staff.
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