Staffordshire County Council has ended the latest financial year more than £5m in the black despite rising care costs and other economic pressures.
The authority has also faced greater difficulty in recruiting staff for adult social care, as well as an increase in the number of children in care during the past year.
But it has not only been able to stay within its £747m budget for 2024/25, but ended the year with a £5.3m underspend, cabinet members heard on Wednesday. They noted the final outturn position for the year and agreed to contribute an unspent contingency budget into the capital reserve, with the overall underspend being added to general balances
Speaking at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, Councillor Chris Large, cabinet member for finance and resources, said:
“The final outturn position reflects an underspend across all of the directorates. However, we have had some significant pressures seen in children in care placements and in older people with physical disabilities, with those services being partially funded by an additional allocation of Social Care Grant.
“The contingency budget of £15m has not been utilised in the year and it is proposed that this is to be contributed to the capital reserve fund for future capital investment. The capital programme shows total expenditure of £151.6m and this reflects our continued investment in school places, highways, property and economic regeneration.”
Reform UK took control of the county council from the previous Conservative administration following the May elections. The new administration has pledged to examine closely how the authority spends its money.
Councillor Large, speaking after Wednesday’s meeting, said:
“The council is clearly able to control its spending within agreed budgets, but this administration wants to review how we allocate that expenditure in the first place. A significant number of third-party contracts and services have existed for many years, and we need to make sure they are delivering for the people of Staffordshire.
“We are determined to provide a value-for-money focus on delivering the core services that matter to residents. The biggest financial concern for any council such as ours, and it’s one that central Government keeps kicking down the road, is the debt that is building in a separate, ring-fenced budget for children with special educational needs.
“That currently stands at around £54 million because funding has consistently failed to meet rising demand. We are trying to bridge that gap as best we can, but ultimately this is a matter for Government.”
Councillor Large also highlighted the challenges local authorities face in planning budgets for future years. He said:
“The council’s financial team has a done a strong job of keeping a tight rein on budgets in comparison to other councils.
“The surplus shows how difficult it is for councils to plan properly when governments just follow one-year spending plans and create uncertainty for the following year. The Government should automatically fix multi-year spending plans to allow long term planning and focus on investing in the council services that make a real difference to people’s lives, such as care for the elderly, highways and pupils with special educational needs.”
