'Adult social care crisis' - Deepening black hole in Telford Council finances eats up more of its rainy day reserves
Hundreds of thousands of pounds more are being poured into rising adult social care needs in Telford as the council seeks to fill a deepening budget black hole.
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The leader of Telford & Wrekin Council insists that the authority is “robust, sensible and investing” as a report reveals that it has an estimated budget shortfall of £5.261m to fill by April.
Councillor Lee Carter, the Labour majority group and authority leader, told a meeting that the council will stay “within budget” after it uses up money put aside at the start of the year.
Telford & Wrekin Council's estimated day to day budget hole has itself increased by £763,000 since a previous finance update.
Council officers say Telford & Wrekin Council is facing “unprecedented pressures" driven by high costs and high demand for services – particularly adult social care, children’s safeguarding and school travel assistance.
The costs of providing care packages across all client groups is rising because of price increases in the market, more complex needs, higher demand and longer periods of care being required, council officers say.
A report put to councillors before Thursday's meeting of the ruling cabinet said it was on track to use up all of a £1.959m buffer put aside for social care pressures plus another £3.3million from another general contingency fund.
