Child's social care plan may cost Peterborough council £2.6m

The council is considering selling almost 80 additional properties

One child's social care placement could cost a council up to £2.6m this year, financial documents show. 

Peterborough City Council's recent budget report said the amount was more than a third of its forecasted £6.4m overspend for 2023-24.

The authority said it was having to accommodate more children with complex needs requiring care. 

It added that it would monitor and mitigate financial risks that emerge this year.

Councils are required to produce a balanced budget every year and can offset overspending on particular services.

Peterborough City Council is facing a growing budget gap of up to £14m by 2026 and has been encouraged by independent financial advisors to identify assets it could sell off to help plug the gap.

The budget report also revealed a £100,000 projected overspend on legal services "due to additional costs of an interim head of legal services role and an increase in the use of external solicitors due to staff shortages". 

Pool still closed

The council's director for legal and governance was dismissed in August; her interim replacement is Adesuwa Omoregie, while the interim head of legal services position remained vacant.

The unitary authority also had a £400,000 overspend on culture and leisure related to the unexpected closure of the Regional Pool and "delays in establishing the subsidiary company which will run leisure, libraries and heritage services". 

The pool had closed multiple times this year with legionalla bacteria being found at the Bishop's Road facility on two occasions, damaged asbestos found in a ceiling tile and reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete being identified. 

This final issue "is yet to be quantified" from a financial point of view, the council said, and the pool remained closed.  

The council's new cabinet, led by independent Peterborough First councillor Mohammed Farooq, met publicly for the first time this week since the previous Conservative leader Wayne Fitzgerald was ousted in a vote of no confidence.

The cabinet noted the contents of the budget report as well as its medium term financial strategy.

A budget for the next financial year must be completed in early 2024.