Agenda item

The Committee considered the report of the Corporate Director of Resources, which provided details of the forecast outturn position for Children and Young People’s Services highlighting major variances in comparison with the budget for the year, based on the position at the end of September 2023 (for copy of report, see file of minutes).

The Finance Manager was in attendance to present the report and reported that the Department for Education had announced some additional funding for schools who were in deficit and they would be working with those schools, so that they were in a stable financial position.

Councillor Walton referred to Aycliffe Secure Service and asked why there was not as much income as expected.

The Finance Manager explained that post COVID they had difficulty recruiting staff as they are challenging roles and indicated that they also had a lot of staff sickness. He reported that the Council had being working with an agency over the last year, specifically targeting bringing people into these roles. He continued that due to the low staffing, they had not been able to have full occupancy and indicated that without the occupancy you lose money.

Councillor Walton asked if staff vacancies had reduced the staffing costs.

The Finance Manager responded that some of the staffing levels were down due to sick leave and those staff were still paid. Overall, they try to generate money through the service but staffing costs were more than income.

Councillor Walton stated that when Aycliffe Secure Service was discussed at the Corporate Parenting Panel it was always positive and that staff were happy in their role.

The Finance Manager responded that Aycliffe Secure Service was heading in the right direction and he would share a response with Members from the Leader of Aycliffe Secure Service around staffing issues.

Resolved: That the Children and Young People’s Services overall revenue position be noted.