The leader of the Isle of Wight Council has admitted that the council is currently forecast to overspend by around £5.7 million this year.
Councillor Phil Jordan told a cabinet meeting last week that a lot of budgetary pressure was coming from adult social care and children’s services – services which he said the council has very little control over.
His announcement has come as councils across the country find themselves in a grim financial predicament.
According to a BBC Shared Data Unit investigation shared with local democracy reporters, 218 local authorities have agreed more than £3billion in savings proposals for this financial year alone and are due to see an overall funding shortage of over £5.7billion by 2026 – 27.
Councils have already implemented all of the easy cuts to non-statutory services, with children’s and adult social care services now having to face the worst austerity, according to the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU).
Dr Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive of the LGIU, told the BBC that the bleak financial situation was being made worse by a growing demand for, and a rising cost of, homelessness and social care services.
Cllr Jordan, who also represents Ryde North West, said:
“I think it’s helpful for me to say, but awkward at the same time, that currently our budget forecast overspend for this year is around £5.7 million – that’s under pressure – but it’s £5.7 million nonetheless.
Article continues below this advertisement “A lot of the pressure is coming from adult social care and children’s services. Those are services that we have very little control over because the demand is the demand.
“That said we are doing all we can to mitigate those rising costs and I know there are some great initiatives being brought forward by both directors of adult social care and children’s services and I thank you for some of the information you’ve given us on that.
“Our planning income is under pressure – that’s indicative of less planning applications coming through.
“Our bereavement services income is a 0.4 million pressure on income – again it’s a strange thing – people pass away or they don’t and use our services or they don’t.
“And so there’s little control that one has over them so it’s a matter of fact but nonetheless those incomes are down for that.
“And our temporary accomodation, which I know we have some initiatives in the pipeline for, some great initiatives, is under pressure also.”
The council leader did, however, point that the authority has a treasury management underspend of £1.3 million.
In other words,because of our stupidity and mismanagement,your (not value for money) council tax is going up!
Maybe they should consider not wasting money on pointless initiatives, like changing parking restrictions in the peripheral areas of Newport and Ryde. Not a huge saving in itself, but an example of where money gets wasted needlessly.
Nothing to do with a 12 million.They keep giving to bus company
Infrastructure is a vital service. And the buses are a critical part of that. I’d far rather that public money was spent on that than the benefits lifestyle here, chosen by those who can work but don’t. Feckless breeds feckless.
How much of this is due to people refusing to pay council tax as reported here yesterday? If the figure quoted for the whole country is 6 billion it surely must be a million pounds plus for the island? If people need support that is one thing but people able to pay should be taken to court promptly and contribute along with the rest of us to support the services we use as a community.
also if not paying should those individuals have all council services withheld including refuse collection, access to the tip, funded emergency services etc?
in one painless swoop you could wipe out the deficit, abolish all those useless talking shops of town and village councils whose only existence is to spend hard earned tax payers money.Sell off those properties they inhabit rarely and it will have the additiooal benefit of reducing the council tax.
Best way to raise revenue without increasing Council tax
rollout islandwide parking permit charges.
Somebody please tell us, where is the £6.3 million from the MoJ given to the council for the repair and maintenance of the prison estate roads?
In the interests of fairness, it should be noted that 85% of spending by all local authorities goes on providing care for vulnerable adults and children’s services. Both of these are a statutory requirement so councils have no choice but to meet the needs that arise. Everything else has to be paid for from the remaining 15% of the budget. Is it any wonder it is spread thinly? Council tax rises are very largely the result of the year on year reduction in central goverment funding to councils over the 14 years that the Conservatives were in government. Virtually the only means councils had of alternative funding has been increases to the council tax. It is easy to criticise local authorities but most have been comprehensively shafted by these years during which they have been starved of the central funding they used to receive.
Since claiming benefits when you’re fit to work seems a lifestyle option here and is often passed down through the generations, this deficit will continue.