Rotherham Council warns it faces £9.6m budget overspend

Rotherham Council may have to use council reserves to plug the gap, documents show

Rotherham Council faces an overspend of £9.6m over the coming year, with children's services alone over budget by £4.4m, the local authority said.

According to council documents, the overspend could be offset by £5m from its contingency budget and another £3.5m through "treasury management".

But it must still find £1.1m to balance its books and may have to resort to council reserves to plug the gap, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The council was contacted for comment.

The local authority's finance report said factors including children's residential care placements and home-to-school transport costs were causing the £4.4m children's services overspend.

Rotherham Council said the rising costs of adult social care would be offset with a £2m grant.

Other expected overspends were connected to factors including the cost of temporary accommodation for homeless people and rising property costs, the report said.

The council recently announced that rents could rise by 7% in 2024 under the annual budget plans.