There is dismay that Gloucestershire County Council has been unable to get to grips with an average yearly overspend of £7 million for children’s services.
Finance chiefs at Shire Hall said the authority is facing an overspend again this year due to rising cost of placements for children in care.
Deputy leader and finance cabinet member Lynden Stowe (C, Campden-Vale) told a recent meeting that the costs were rising due to “limited market availability”.
He said the situation is disappointing and hopes central government will recognise it continues to be a challenging issue for councils and will provide more funding in future.
But Liberal Democrat group leader Ben Evans (LD, Churchdown) says the overspend is down to the Conservative administration’s mis-management of children’s services.
He says the Tories’ budget has been woefully out of touch for six years in a row.
“At what point does incompetence turn into dishonesty? I am completely baffled,” he said.
“I have stood up repeatedly and asked the Tory administration to be honest about their financial plans for children’s services, because we can all see the pattern of a £7 million overspend every year for the last eight years.
“But every year they pretend that ‘this year we have it right’.
“As a life-long worker in children’s services I know the need is to plan financially, properly, for the long term – to prevent the high cost services that are needed when things go wrong.
“This knee-jerk planning by the Tories results in human tragedy and in the ridiculous situation where every year they are ‘surprised’ by the £7m overspend.
“I directly asked Richard Boyles in 2020, the then cabinet member, who assured me ‘this time we have it right’.
“A £7m overspend followed. I directly asked Stephen Davies, who is the current cabinet member, in 2021 the same question – he answered, ‘this time we have it right’. A £7m overspend followed.
“And this has nothing to do with Covid…add those figures in and the overspends are much higher!
“Our Children and Young people deserve better than this Tory farce who do not understand budgeting”
Linda Cohen, Lib Dem spokesperson on Children and Families said, the Conservative administration’s planning is playing them for fools and is letting down the children and young people in care.
The Conservatives have been approached for further comment.
By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. AcceptRejectPrivacy Policy
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Processing...
Thank you!Your subscription has been confirmed.You'll hear from us soon.