Council in good position as new era gets started
REPORT REVEALS OVERALL UNDERSPEND OVER YEAR
NEWCASTLE City Council is in a good position moving into a new era according to a wide ranging report.
That was the message from the authority’s new-look cabinet, which met for the first time on Monday to discuss a report looking at the council’s performance over the past 12 months.
The document identified that there was an overall underspend against its £100,000 budget despite the continuing impact of Covid-19. A significant underspend of £3million in corporate items was put down to additional Covid funding from the Government.
Coun Paul Frew, cabinet member for an efficient council, went into more detail on the point and said underspends were being seen in other local government organisations.
He said: “It’s been choppy waters for local government generally. There have been underspends and overspends. We have some underspends around vacancies for staff, which is something that is affecting every large organisation in the country right now.
“We’re digging into what specific roles we are really struggling with. Initially that seems to be around roles that have competition from the private sector. On overspend we’re still looking at impacts from Covid still hanging around.”
According to the report, there were overspends in Adult Social Care and Integrated Services, Operations & Regulatory Services and Place areas.
The cabinet also faced questions from opposition leader Nick Cott on an increase in the number of children in need and the number of children with a child protection plan.
Lib Dem leader Coun Cott said: “We do have a slight rise in the number of child protection plans and of children in need. I appreciate this is a very difficult area and the council is investing in early health, but I’m interested in whether there’s any reason for this increase?”
Responding, Coun Sylvia Copley, cabinet member for a growing city, acknowledged the rise and added: “Early indicators suggest we’re getting better at identifying levels of need and progressing them quickly.
“As always child protection numbers are monitored very carefully. It is something we will pay particular attention to.”