Meeting documents

This item will focus on home to school cost management and will be led by the Council’s Assistant Director Inclusion Dr Rob Hart, and Strategic Manager, Access & Additional Learning Needs Phil Curd and Service Manager Transporting Somerset John Perrett

For background see 2022/23 Revenue Budget Monitoring Report – Month 4 –  End July 2022

Note the Chair will allow 30 minutes for this agenda item.

This item was introduced by the Council’s Assistant Director Inclusion, Dr Rob Hart who referred to the most recent budget monitoring report (2022/23 Revenue Budget Monitoring Report – Month 4 – end July 2022).

Dr Hart highlighted that the following: -

• the month 4 budget position for Children’s Services is a £15.5m adverse variance against the budget (14.7% of service budget – a deterioration of £1.5m from month three
• the majority of this pressure is seen in the external placements budget (for children looked after) which is forecasting a £12.1m overspend
• the current projected adverse variance of £2.9m and the major cost pressures across Home to School and Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) transport, the factors impacting on this such as rising costs of fuel for example and the further work being done around the expected increase in pupil numbers which has also had a contributing factor to the overspend

The Committee: -

(a)  Noted the proposed actions to address the budget trajectory, including the Children’s Transformation Programme, which focuses effort on key areas of demand / pressures.

(b)  Noted that the Executive has asked the Committee to review the 2022/23 budget monitoring position for its services and agreed that the Chair and Vice Chair will discuss further establishing a Task & Finish Group to look at the ‘top spends’, transport and external placements.