A LOT of noise has rightfully been made by the public after it was revealed that Wiltshire Council recorded a nearly £5 million overspend.
The council brought to light a £4.85m overspend that has been largely attributed to unforeseen demands of adult social care, an area that has seen rising financial pressure over the years.
But questions have been raised as to why the previous Conservative-run authority failed to see it coming.
The new Liberal Democrat administration said the black hole can be attributed to “the complexity of care packages” as well as rising costs relating to the National Living Wage and National Insurance contributions.
The council agreed to use earmarked reserves to plug the financial gap at an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Tuesday (June 24) a way to balance the budget.
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These reserves will need to be topped up at some point, but no information has been provided about how and when this might happen.
Despite no clear reason being identified as to why the adult social care budget overspend happened, council leader Ian Thorn has reassured residents that measures would be put in place to ensure this never happens again.
“This is not the position we want to be in, but all spending is accounted for across the council and we are taking decisive action to ensure we deliver a positive financial position moving forwards,” he said.
“We are working hard across the organisation to fully understand the challenges and put things right.
“We plan to further strengthen our financial scrutiny with a new committee focused on this area, providing an open and forensic challenge of the budget.
“This approach has cross-party support and we welcome scrutiny and feedback from all members and will play a vital role in reinforcing the improvements we are making.”
Speaking to BBC News, Lib Dem councillor Gavin Grant said there are “some questions for our predecessors about how they square the circle of statements they made with the reality that we now see.”
Former Conservative council leader Richard Clewer said: “Something’s clearly gone very badly wrong inside adult social care.”
A Wiltshire Council spokesperson said: “At the recent cabinet meeting, the reported £6 million change in forecasting between Q3 and Q4 specifically related to adult social care only, not the overall council budget.
“The council’s final outturn includes a range of overspends and underspends across services, resulting in a total overspend of £4.853 million.
“The £6 million variance in adult social care between Q3 and Q4 is fully accounted for and reflects updated and improved financial reporting.
Can you please give me a 3-4 bedrooms house for wheelchairbound please.I got to have a nurse càrers 24 hours of the day.Starting tomorrow and sending me a letter of comformation. 11 new cannal waySN10 2UB.Letter to be delivered on Monday