Leeds City Council's forecast overspend hits £39.5m

The authority says social care and housing at-risk children are among the main drivers for rising costs

Leeds City Council has announced its expected overspend for the year has risen to almost £40m.

The authority said the main drivers for the increase are the costs of social care and keeping at-risk children safe, with the children and families budget rising by £12.8m since August to £28.7m.

The council has implemented a "complete recruitment freeze" along with imposing restrictions on travel costs, overtime and agency staff in order to help balance the books, a finance report said.

A council executive board meeting will take place on 19 November to discuss the report.

Leeds City Council could be required to find further savings and dig into cash reserves to balance this year's budget, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The report said: "This could include action to reduce spending, income generation or other measures to bring budget pressures under control for the rest of the year."

The adults and health budget was predicting a £15.1m overspend, up £2.7m since August.

Other budget controls include restrictions on the use of purchase cards at the council, which already needed to save more than £100m this financial year.

The report said the recruitment freeze did not include front-line jobs like social work or some "income-generating posts".

A separate report on revenue savings proposals up to 2028/29 will also be presented to councillors at the meeting.

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