Rotherham Council on track to spend £4.5million more than planned

The council’s overview and scrutiny board members were told yesterday (September 13) that the council is spending millions more than it was projected a year ago.

Rotherham Council (RMBC) estimates that the authority is spending £4.5m more compared to the plans set out last July.

The report stated: “As of July 2023, the Council currently estimates a directorate overspend of £4.5m for the financial year 2023/24.

“Whilst the core directorates services have a forecast year end overspend of £9.5m on the General Fund, there is a £5m forecast underspend within Central Services reflecting the corporate budget provision approved within the Council’s Budget and Council Tax Report 2023/24 to support anticipated pressures within Home to School Transport and Children’s placements.”

Coun Chris Read, the leader of Rotherham Council, said: “We are projecting at the moment an overspend of £4.5m for the current financial year.

“There are three big reasons for that. One is children’s placement costs. We’ve spoken about this before, but the message remains the same: the number of children coming into care in Rotherham continues to fall broadly in line with the plan that we set out three or four years ago.

“We have now got, I think, 40 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the borough – we are, in effect, their corporate parents. While the government pays for the costs associated with those children, that is 40 placements that the children need.

“(The second one is) the home to school transports… Councils across the country are finding it as a big challenge. We continue to see an increase in the number of children needing that level of support (something like a 10 per cent rise each year).

“Then finally, it will come as no particular surprise to anyone, inflationary costs… Things just cost more than they did a year ago.”