County council warns more 'difficult' cuts lie ahead

The council says it is facing financial pressures beyond its control

Derbyshire County Council is warning of "even more difficult decisions" as it prepares to make £30m worth of cuts this year.

The authority is battling pressures “significantly in excess” of its overall budget and a £20m spending gap.

The council says it is also in danger of presiding over an “unacceptably low" level of emergency funds over the coming year, with a risk of reducing them to £10m below required levels.

“This is clearly unacceptable and the council needs to take corrective action to reduce its forecast expenditure”, a report on council finances to be discussed next week states.

The report warns by law the budget cannot be balanced when it "reduces reserves to unacceptably low levels”.

The latest assessment follows significant overspending in the previous two years, which saw the council resort to using £113m of its emergency funds to legally balance its books.

The Conservative leader of the council says the authority continues to grapple with “great financial challenges” despite progress being made over the past year.

“A lot of hard work and strong planning has gone into ensuring we keep our finances on track but it has not been without many difficult decisions having to be made," said Barry Lewis.

“We are continuing to lobby the government so that we can continue to run vital services to those who need them most, but we also recognise that even more difficult decisions will be needed as we work to balance the books now and in future years.”

The bulk of the financial pressures come from adult care

Though the budget is set to be outspent by £20m, this is less than half of the forecast last year when an immediate ban on all non-essential travel and a recruitment freeze were among the cost-cutting measures.

Rising demand and costs to adult and children’s social care services are forming the bulk of the pressure, with adult social care going over budget by £24m.

The council said this was mainly due to spending on care packages where cost and demand had increased notably on last year.

About 63% of the council’s roughly £750m overall budget is spent on social care.

Children’s services and safeguarding is set to outspend its budget by £13m. The excess is blamed on continued demand and a scarcity of spaces.

Financial challenges have also been blamed for plans to require parents whose children are taken into the care of the council to pay up to 50% of their costs.

Severe problems can also be found in the authority’s school’s budget, where the deficit is set to reach £34m by spring 2025.

High demand for Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for special educational needs children is also identified as a pressure, where whilst improving on last year, the council is only meeting half the national target for providing timely plans for children.

Leaders will assess the council's finances at a meeting next week.