Council's mitigation plan to address £22m budget overspend

Children and social care demands fuelling extra costs

- BY ELLIOTT JESSETT

A WORSENING financial situation is developing at Sefton Council, which expects to overspend by more than £22m this financial year.

Sefton Council said it is facing a 'challenging financial environment, but maintains it has a plan to address it.

At a cabinet meeting at Bootle Town Hall, councillors discussed a financial management report which highlighted major pressures in demand-led services such as children's and adult social care.

Elected members were asked to recognise the financial risks associated with the delivery of the 2025/26 revenue budget.

The council report confirmed the current forecast for children's social care (CSC) shows a potential overspend of £16.461m and said its target of finding £6.2m in savings from the adult social care budget currently stands at £2.4m.

Further overspends were forecast for both staffing in CSC (£2.4m) and £2m over the communities budget, made up primarily on the costs of temporary accommodation for homeless people.