Council on track to deliver £50m+ in savings

Dudley Council is on track to deliver more than £50 million of savings this year to further ease the pressure on its finances.

A report set to go before the cabinet shows the council is also on track to put £7.5 million back into reserves by the end of 2025/6 - £2.5 million above target.

It lays out the authority’s overall financial position at the halfway stage of the financial year. The council is on track to deliver savings of £53.6 million and could still achieve more than £60 million, the report says.

It shows the council is currently reporting a total overspend of £1.3 million by the end of March next year. But this is an improvement of £1.2 million on the reported £2.5 million overspend at the end of the first quarter, the report says.

The overspend – which bosses say can be met by a contingency budget set aside to manage budget pressures - is largely down to increased demand for placements for children in care. It has led to a forecast £5 million overspend on children’s services at the halfway stage, figures show.

But the council’s senior management restructure has delivered savings of more than £1.3 million, and there are also reported underspends for adult social care.

Councillor Steve Clark, cabinet member for resources, said: “This report confirms that the council is continuing to move in the right direction towards financial sustainability.

“This is against a backdrop of continued and unprecedented challenges being faced by local authorities up and down the country battling valiantly to balance the books.

“I am particularly pleased that we have exceeded our target for the annual top up to our reserves, and now have more than £36 million set aside. This will improve the overall financial resilience of the council to meet the challenges we face moving forwards.

“There is still work to do – we are still reporting an overspend, although we have eaten into that significantly in the last quarter. We hope to reduce it further still in the second half of the year, although that will be challenging given the ongoing pressures we face around children’s and adult social care.”

The report will be discussed at the next meeting of the cabinet on Thursday November 6. It takes place from 6pm in the council chamber at Dudley Council House on Priory Road, and members of the public are welcome to attend.