Devon's children's services £10.5m overspend predicted

A report on Devon County Council's financial situation said it was "an area of great concern"

A £10.5m overspend in children's services in Devon has been predicted for the current financial year.

Devon County Council said the potential overspend was based on the first four months of the financial year and was a result of increased staffing costs, more children being looked after and more money spent on placements.

A report on the financial situation said it was "an area of great concern".

The projected overspend will be discussed by the council on Wednesday.

Liberal Democrat councillor Alan Connett said the budget monitoring report "lifts the lid on the chaos" at County Hall, "the lack of management and control on spending".

Reasons for the predicted overspend:

• There were 708 children cared for by the council at the end of July compared to the figure of 573 which the current budget was based on

• Residential placements and supported lodgings cost an extra £1.5m

• Staffing - social work costs are over budget by £2.2m - agency staff to cover sickness, maternity cover and vacancies cost £1.4m

Source: Budget monitoring report 2015/2016

Conservative councillor James McInness, who is responsible for the services, said: "The safety of children is paramount and most of this projected overspend is because of a big increase in the number of children in care.

"This reflects national trends which have seen the number of children in care rising rapidly over the last 20 years.

"We were also determined to ensure Ofsted lifted its inadequate judgement on our children's services which we successfully achieved earlier this year."

The report, which is to be discussed on Wednesday, stated: "If further cost reductions or income generation cannot be found in the near future to balance the budget, it will be necessary to implement a financial recovery plan across the whole authority."

Mr McInness added: "You need to bear in mind these figures cover only the first third of the financial year and we are already working on getting the overspend down."