Stoke-on-Trent Council has warned that it is on the verge of bankruptcy and called for a ‘national overhaul’ of social care funding.
The council is facing a budget gap of £8.5m this year which will leave the authority at ‘significant risk’ of not being able to set a balanced budget next year.
The main pressures on the council’s budget are children’s and adult social care, and the proposed pay offer for local authority staff.
Cllr Alastair Watson, cabinet member for finance and corporate services, said the current administration had inherited ‘a very perilous financial situation’.
He said: ‘We’ve hit the ground running in these four months – getting on top of illegal dumping and clearing a longstanding fly-tipping backlog that’s been plaguing residents; prioritising early intervention and prevention services such as a new family hub model to provide better, more sustained social care; delivering a five-year investment programme into council housing; and tackling anti-social behaviour in our communities.’
‘We’ve done this while insisting on tight spending controls in response to the financial position we’ve inherited. So far, we’ve reduced a potential £13m budget gap down to £8.5m.
‘But as it stands, with record numbers of children in care, with high inflation that increases the unit cost of care for children and adults along with the cost of so many goods and services that we purchase for the benefit of residents, we are spending more money than we can afford – we cannot sustain services like this.’
If this article was of interest, then check out our feature, 'Preventing future Section 114 notices'.
