Fears Bristol recruitment freeze may affect care homes

The council is forecasted to have spent millions more than it budgeted this year

There are fears that a money-saving council recruitment freeze could affect elderly people in care homes.

Several vacancies could remain open across Bristol City Council in a bid to prevent over-spending, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The council is predicted to be millions of pounds over budget by March 2023.

Councillor Helen Holland, cabinet member for adult social care, said they were not cutting any services.

Bristol mayor Marvin Rees said the council could not afford to "float off in the clouds" with its budgeting.

Mr Rees was responding to questions at a cabinet meeting on 6 September about plans to cut the predicted overspend.

By the end of the financial year in March, the council forecasts it will have spent £7.7m more than it had budgeted for in its general fund and will have accumulated deficits of £1.4m in housing and £44.2m in schools.

Capital spending, used mainly for big infrastructure projects rather than day-to-day bills, is forecast to be underspent by £40.5m.

Council leaders in charge of departments spending more than their budget - including social care, education improvement, digital transformation and temporary accommodation for homeless people - must tell finance chiefs how they plan to reduce their spending.

Recent cabinet papers refer to a "recruitment freeze" as a way to help achieve this, although it is unclear which departments this would affect.

'Financial responsibilities'

Councillor Heather Mack, the Green group leader, raised concerns about the impact recruitment controls would have on services, especially adult social care.

"Reducing these services now while we have significant sums in reserves could make both people suffer unnecessarily and cost us more in years to come," she said.

She added: "If we look holistically at the city and not just at our bank balance for the next year or two, is it prudent to hold so much in reserves and cut our spending on services, at this time of need?"

Mr Rees said: "I don't want us to end up floating off in the clouds, thinking we're going to sit around a campfire and come up with some kind of holistic view that has nothing to do with the financial responsibilities we have."