The Kent County Council (KCC) Cabinet met to discuss the financial outturn for 2024-25, which showed a £20.2 million overspend, primarily due to pressures in adult social care and health, and to review the council's performance in the fourth quarter of the year. The cabinet agreed to draw from the general fund reserves to cover the overspend, and also approved some roll-forward requests for committed projects and changes to the capital programme. Updates were also heard from cabinet members on key developments and progress within their portfolios.

Financial Outturn 2024-25

The council's financial position for 2024-25 revealed a revenue overspend of £20.2 million, representing 1.4% of the total £1.43 billion budget. Councillor Brian Collins, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member responsible for finance, presented the Finance Monitoring & Outturn Report, highlighting that the overspend was mainly driven by significant pressures in adult social care and health, which accounted for £46.4 million. This reflected national trends, with most county councils reporting similar challenges.

Around 40% of this overspend was attributed to undelivered savings, much of which is expected to be achieved in the current year. Other areas of pressure included growth, environment, and transport, particularly due to changes in the national concessionary travel scheme and increased waste and highways costs. However, these were partially offset by underspends in children's services, particularly in home-to-school transport, and in non-attributable costs, where higher investment returns and lower borrowing costs contributed to a £14 million underspend.

Schools' delegated budgets overspent by £30.3 million, driven by continued growth in demand for special educational needs provision. This has increased the council's dedicated school grant deficit to £97.5 million, despite ongoing support from the Department for Education's safety valve programme¹. An announcement from the government on proposals to address this national issue is expected in the autumn.

The capital programme saw significant slippage, with £253 million spent out of an approved £429 million budget, and £185 million re-phased into future years, largely due to delays in project delivery.

The cabinet was asked to:

• Note the outturn position.
• Approve the drawdown from reserves to fund the overspend.
• Agree £0.6 million of roll-forward requests for committed projects.
• Approve the re-phasing and cash limit changes to the capital programme.

Mr Shipton, Head of Finance Policy, Planning and Strategy, reminded the cabinet that the budget strategy for 2024-25 did not include a centrally held contingency, meaning any risks to demand-led services would have to be borne by the General Reserve.

The cabinet agreed to the recommendations.

Quarterly Performance Report

David Whittle, Director of Strategy, Policy, Relationships and Corporate Assurance, presented the Quarter 4 Performance Report for 2024-25, covering the period between January and March. The report assessed performance against key performance indicators (KPIs) and highlighted areas where performance was on track, as well as those facing challenges.

Out of the 38 KPIs, 19 were rated green, nine were rated amber, and 10 were rated red. The ten indicators rated red were:

• Percentage of complaints responded to within timescale (customer services)
• Freedom of Information Act request completed within 20 working days (governance and law)
• Subject access requests under Data Protection Act completed within the statutory timescales (governance and law)
• Percentage of education, health and care plans issued within 20 weeks (children, young people, and education)
• Percentage of pupils with the HCPs being placed in independent or out-of-county special schools (children, young people, and education)
• Percentage of case-holding posts filled by permanent qualified social workers (children, young people, and education)
• Percentage of foster care placements which are in-house or with relatives and friends, which excludes unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (children, young people, and education)
• Number of foster households (children, young people, and education)
• Proportion of new care assessments delivered within 28 days (adult social care)
• Percentage of KCC-supported people in residential and nursing care where the CQC rating is good or outstanding (adult social care)

Mr Whittle noted that five of these 10 indicators have been graded red for at least the last six quarters, but many have seen large improvements compared to the previous year. He also highlighted that there were no KPIs rated red under the Growth, Economic Development, and Communities portfolio, the Environment and Transport portfolio, or the Public Health portfolio.

Mr Whittle also presented the KPIs and activity indicators recommended for the current financial year, as set out in Appendix 2. Key changes included:

• Two new KPIs proposed to commence later this year under Education and wider early help, once Ofsted² establishes its new inspection framework.
• Adjustments to the target for the number of foster households to align with the 25-26 fostering recruitment strategy.
• A new KPI measuring the percentage of national transfer scheme referrals for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children made within two working days of days referral to KCC.
• Removal of two existing KPIs due to these services now coming under adult social care.
• One new KPI being proposed under adult social care, namely the long-term support needs of adults met by admission to residential and nursing care homes.
• Revisions to the KPI for mandated universal checks delivered by the Health Visiting Service and the target for the number of adults accessing structured substance misuse treatment.

Mr Whittle also noted that the government has recently published and is now consulting on a new draft local government outcomes framework, and that the council is assessing its implications for performance monitoring going forward.

The cabinet agreed to note the report and related management actions.

Cabinet Member Updates

Cabinet members provided updates on key developments and progress within their portfolios:

• Diane Morton, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, discussed attending an event for home care providers, visiting Gravesham Place integrated care centre, and hosting a coffee morning for Carers Week. She also highlighted Alcohol Awareness Week and Shared Lives Week.
• Paul Webb, Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services, reported excellent satisfaction survey results for libraries, registration, and archives. He also mentioned national recognition at the Libraries Connected Awards, funding for the Know Your Neighbourhood scheme, and the upcoming move of Dover Library back to the Dover Discovery Centre.
• Paul King, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Coastal Regeneration, announced the launch of the Kent and Midway Connect Work Programme and secured funding for a skills boot camps programme. He also highlighted the Kent and Midway Business Fund, the No Use Empty Scheme, and the work of Visit Kent and Locating Kent.
• David Wimble, Cabinet Member for Environment, discussed the Kent environment, including the upcoming local nature recovery strategy, community archaeology, the National Education Nature Park Initiative, and the Solar Together scheme. He also mentioned a new reuse container at New Romney House Waste Recycling Centre and the North Kent Woods and Downs King's Series National Nature Reserve.
• Beverley Fordham, Cabinet Member for Education, updated the cabinet on her visits to Broomhill Bank School and the CLS City Born Education Centre, as well as Dartford Library.
• Christine Palmer, Cabinet Member for Children's Services, discussed the Family First initiative, plans to bring children's homes back in-house, and attending the awards ceremony for virtual school. She also mentioned a letter sent to the Home Secretary concerning asylum claims for unaccompanied children and attending the KCC Youth Council.
• Peter Osborne, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, provided an update on Operation Brock, the A226 Galley Hill Road closure, and the Road of Remembrance in Folkestone. He also mentioned the new highways term maintenance contract and grass-cutting activities.
• Matthew Fraser Moat, spoke about the new department for processes and efficiency, and joined-up thinking. He said that the first thing they did was cut the members' allowances and transferred those funds into the members' grants.
• Brian Collins, Deputy Leader, discussed a device recycling scheme, the release of four properties for auction, the sale of artwork, and the rollout of the Microsoft AI Tool co-pilot.