Somerset Council to dip into reserves to cover social care

A council said it will have to draw on reserves to fund the rising cost of social care.

Somerset Council published papers describing its financial position as "stark and challenging".

The council said demand for adult and child care services had risen since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The papers reveal that the council drew £18 million from reserves last year to fund spending beyond the 2022/23 budgets in care services.

The council has a legal obligation to fund these services, which have seen an unprecedented rise in both overall demand and complexity of need since the Covid-19 pandemic.

These two social care services are currently projected to overspend by £21m again in the current financial year, despite significant increases in budgets in the two previous years.

Councillor Liz Leyshon, lead member for resources and performance and deputy leader of Somerset Council, said: "Obviously repeatedly using the council's reserves to fund day to day care services cannot continue without putting the financial viability of the council at risk.

"The demand on social care continues to grow and inflation and interest rates have continued to rise.

"After a decade of neglect, the government has to address the future of council funding.

"We know that we will have to reduce some of our services to a statutory level and no more, yet we know that when residents pay their council tax, they rightly expect their council to support such services as sport and leisure, arts, parks, and open spaces.

"We will review our whole capital programme to ensure that we create a Somerset Council that is sustainable in the longer term.

"This is a difficult task but one that we are committed to for the people of Somerset."

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