Derbyshire County Council is braced for a £18.5million overspend as it enters 2022/23, much of which will be spent on adult social care, children's services and highways.
In a meeting of Cabinet on Monday (24 January), members approved the revenue budget detailing how the authority plans to manage its budget of £618.5 million for the coming financial year.
In doing so, they also rubber-stamped a three per cent Council Tax increase, which equates to an extra £41.49 for a band D household.
The authority forecast overspends of £6.2million for adult care, £5.4million for children’s services, £2.6million for highways and travel and £4.9million for corporate services.
Councillor Simon Spencer, member for corporate services and budget, said: “I will say that this administration understands very clearly the pressures that the public are facing in the wake of Covid – financial pressures, inflation and other pressures which are outside of our control.
“We have tried to take into account all those issues that people in general are facing.
“We wish to help the local communities we represent and try and understand and do the best we can and make sure we allocate the resources we have in the best possible way.”
He explained that much of the overspend in children’s services focussed around placements and school transport, while a lot of corporate services expenditure was due to seeking legal advice with child protection issues.
Coun Spencer added he hoped the county would have a mild winter this year, which might ease the pressure on the highways budget.
Leader Councillor Barry Lewis commented that the council tax increase was below inflation.
He said: “I think the measure of this is it’s a great budget for Derbyshire, given the difficulties we have had as a county over the last couple of years.”
The council is still seeking to make £67million in cutbacks by the financial year 2026/27.
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