City council's finance chief 'encouraged' by £1.6m overspend

QUARTERLY DEFICIT IS DOWN FROM £7.1 MILLION THE PREVIOUS YEAR

- By DAVID LAWRENCE Local Democracy Reporter

'Challenging': Cllr Richard Brown (inset)

FIGURES released by Coventry City Council show that there was a £1.6m budget overspend in the three months to the end of June with the cost of providing adult social care packages the biggest culprit.

But the figures have not fazed the cabinet member responsible for finance who said he was 'encouraged' by the position three months into the new financial year.

A report considered at the council's audit and procurement meeting this week [Tuesday] explained that while there were overspends in a number of departments, the biggest was in adult services and housing which was £2.1m over budget.