Sheffield City Council’s annual Q3 Budget Monitoring Report has shown a significant improvement in the council’s financial position.
The recent report shows the City Council has spent £4.7m less than budgeted, thanks to savings made in SEN (special educational needs) transport, and homelessness budgets.
An overspend of £23.6m was forecasted for the third quarter of this financial year, but the savings made mean the council has overspent by an improved £18.9m.
The City Council has achieved the SEN transport savings through a reduction in single use taxis and an increased uptake in Personal Travel Budgets (PTB’s).
Councillor Toby Mallinson, a member of the Council’s Education, Children and Families Policy Committee, told ShefNews: ”Through consultations on the new policy, the option of PTB’s has been much more thoroughly flagged to families as an option. In future years it will be default for post-16 families unless they opt for other solutions.”
PTB’s, which were introduced last year, aim to save funds and give individuals with special educational needs greater autonomy and independence. The provision of PTB’s has proven to be cheaper than running minibus services and paying for taxis.
Cllr Mallinson stressed the importance of reducing SEN spending last year,=.
He said: ”SEN transport is one of the biggest stressors on Sheffield Council’s budget. Due to the increasing demand for SEND school places and inflationary pressures, the Council needs to find ways to mitigate the spiralling costs.”
As well as the introduction of PTB’s, Sheffield City Council have also employed a tighter application of taxi spending, encouraging families to share taxis rather than paying for more than one.
Cllr Mallinson said: ”Through hard work and analysing data, we’ve been able to reorganise taxi journeys with individual families.”
Sheffield City Council have also mitigated losses elsewhere, where costs were increasing.
The cost of repairs to the city’s temporary accommodation properties has risen drastically due to material inflation, proving a significant pressure on its finances. The City Council has mitigated these losses through negotiating lower fees with private providers.
The average nightly rate for housing a family in privately owned accommodation was £100 last April; it now sits at £72 thanks to renegotiation.
Despite the impressive savings made in the council’s homelessness and SEN budgets, spending on Adult Health and Social continues to spiral and remains the biggest pressure on the city’s purse.
The Q3 forecast shows a £30.4m overspend – £0.7m higher than budgeted.