At a meeting of the Wiltshire Council cabinet, those present discussed the revenue and capital outturn positions for the financial year 2024-25, as well as the treasury management outturn position. The cabinet approved transfers to and from earmarked reserves, the creation of new earmarked reserves, and a revenue contribution to capital for works related to Salisbury City Hall. They also noted the general fund outturn position, savings delivery, and overspends in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).

Financial Performance and Budget Management

The main focus of the meeting was the concerning £4.853 million overspend for the 2024-25 financial year. Cllr Gavin Grant, Cabinet Member for Finance, explained that this was due to underestimates in planning charge income, lower retained income on business rates, changes in housing benefits, and pressures on people services, particularly adult social care.

Addressing the Deficit

To address the deficit, the cabinet approved the use of reserves, including:

• £700,000 from the pay award reserve
• £713,000 from the waste reserve
• £2 million from the transformation reserve
• £1.44 million from the insurance reserve

Cllr Grant emphasised that the council has a legal obligation to balance its budget and cannot carry forward deficits. He also noted that the general reserve would not be touched, as it is considered rainy day money.

Adult Social Care Pressures

A significant portion of the overspend was attributed to pressures within adult social care. Cllr Grant highlighted a legacy issue related to the implementation of the Care Act 2014, where Wiltshire Council was slow in adopting changes to payment processes. He also noted that the number of individuals and families with complex needs is increasing, which is adding further pressure to the budget. Cllr Gordon King, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, confirmed that the problems within the adult social care budget were not just the payments issue, but also the increasing complexity of the needs of individuals and families.

To address these issues, a consultancy work was commissioned, which identified 21 problem areas and 10 specific projects to address them. Cllr Grant stated that this project is expected to be completed by December 2025.

Scrutiny and Oversight

Cllr Ian Thorne, Leader of the Council, stressed the importance of ensuring that such a deficit does not happen again and that there must be a programme that radically reforms the current position.

Cllr Nabil Najjar presented a statement on behalf of the Overview and Scrutiny (ONS) committee and the rapid scrutiny group, which reviewed the financial year outturn reports. The committee expressed concerns about the significant deviation between the Q3 forecast and the final outturn, and urged the administration and officers to learn from this and improve financial forecasting processes. The scrutiny group made several recommendations, including:

• Identifying flaws in existing modelling and reporting back to ONS with a revised forecasting methodology
• Delegating continued monitoring and oversight to the new finance committee
• Bringing the impact of the adult social care overspend to the Health Select Committee for additional scrutiny
• Carefully considering the capital programme process to ensure alignment with the council's corporate business plan
• Continuing to scrutinise levels of reserves held

Cllr Grant welcomed the scrutiny and committed to improving the timeliness of providing financial documents for review. He also acknowledged the importance of the new Select Committee and the need for colleagues to understand the budgetary process.

Opposition Response

Cllr Richard Clewer, Conservative Group Leader, echoed the concerns about the adult social care overspend and the lack of clarity regarding the reasons for the £6 million increase since Q3. He questioned whether this was a one-off overspend or a systemic issue. Cllr Clewer also raised concerns about potential money owed to providers and the writing off of old income.

Cllr Thorne acknowledged the systemic issue in the financial management of adult social care and the need for a process of transformation to ensure this situation does not recur.

Capital Programme Outturn

Cllr Grant presented the capital programme outturn, noting that the level of capital spend at year-end was up and the gap between anticipated and actual spend was down. He credited this to more efficient business cases and a stronger overall financial position.

Cllr Najjar noted the scrutiny group's questions about the alignment of capital projects with the corporate business plan and the relationship between capital and revenue.

Cllr Clewer agreed with the positive assessment of the capital programme's delivery and noted that revenue avoidance was possibly more important than revenue generation.

Treasury Management Outturn

Cllr Grant presented the treasury management outturn report, highlighting the council's borrowings and investments. He noted that while bank rate reductions may benefit some, they could lead to a loss of revenue generation for the council.

Cllr Hubbard expressed concern about the high needs block and the safety valve programme, and the impact of fair funding on Wiltshire's schools.

Cllr Grant concluded by asking the cabinet to note the contents of the report and recommend it to full council for consideration.

Public Participation

The council addressed questions from the public, including Cllr Mike Sankey, Tim Guy and Andrew Wheeler, regarding empty council properties, electric vehicle costs and environmental impact, the Salisbury Junction Improvements project, and housing permissions¹ granted but not started.