'Significant concern' over council's forecast overspend

A council is expecting to spend almost £30m over its budget in the current financial year, with particular budget pressures in adult and children's services.

Warrington Council has forecast after the first three months of the financial year that its overspend will be £28.9m.

Officers at the local authority have warned the forecast overspend at this early stage of the year was of "significant concern".

The council said the overspend puts it in a "very pressurised position" but it was "not an inevitability".

Children's services is one of the main areas where costs are forecast to be over budget, particularly on children in care.

A number of financial measures are set to be introduced, including a council-wide voluntary redundancy scheme, monthly budget monitoring and the creation of a cost control panel to review all spending.

Concerns have been raised in the past about the council's £1.8bn debt linked to its investment strategy, but the council said its commercial approach was "not contributing" to its overspend.

Denis Matthews, the council's cabinet member for corporate finance, said the overspend was because of growing demand for the authority's services.

"The current £29m projected overspend in Warrington puts us in a very pressurised position," he said.

"But it is not an inevitability - it is an estimate at this point, and we have time to bring it down by making carefully targeted interventions."

He added the council was "far from alone in facing a difficult challenge this financial year".

The report will be discussed by the council's cabinet on Monday.

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