Compensation call as council faces £6m Covid overspend
Sunderland City Council leaders have repeated calls for the Government to fully reimburse the costs of Covid-19, as the local authority faces an overspend of nearly £6 million this year.
Thefigurewasrevealedata meetingofthecouncil’sruling cabinetduringafirstreviewof the 2021/22 revenue budget.
Revenue spending covers frontline council services including adult and children’s social care and environmental services, such as bin collections.
According to the latest budget estimates prepared for the cabinet, the council is facinganestimatedoverspend of £5.729 million at the end of the year.
Councillor Graeme Miller, leader of the council, introduced a report on the revenue budget to cabinet on Tuesday.
“The forecast overspend is largely due to the additional costs and lost income arisingfromthepandemicimpact and cost pressures associated with delivering adults and children’ssocialcare,”hesaid.
“The forecast overspend position relies on fully utilising the balance of our Covid contingency without which, theforecastpositionwouldbe significantly worse.
“We will continue alongside regional and national colleagues to make the case for local authorities to be fullycompensatedbythegovernment for the financial impact of the pandemic and also continuetoargueforafairlevelof resourcetobeprovidedbythe government to enable councils
to deliver their social care responsibilities.”
Councillors heard that the budget for this financial year was reliant on the inclusion of around £6.2 million worth of savingsinitiatives–with77%of thesavingshavingeitherbeen delivered or progressed.
However, 23% are considered “undeliverable as planned” at this stage and are factored into the budget forecast position.
Cllr Miller said targeted support initiatives were planned to “mitigate the impactofthepandemic,”providing
essential support to care homes, local businesses and vulnerable residents.
CouncillorLindaWilliams, cabinet member for Vibrant City, added it was important for the council to put pressure on the government to meet the cost pressures of the pandemic.
“The biggest impact has been taken by those people who are the most vulnerable, whether they are in adult social care or within child safeguarding areas, it is unfair for
the’ bad balance,’ if you like, to lie on those individuals,” she said.
“We need to press for fairer funding for our vulnerable residents so that they can live a really good life and enjoy things rather than wondering when the next issue is going to be.”
Noting the impact of national funding cuts over the last decade, Cllr Miller also called for the Government to back up its “promise” to compensate councils fully for the financial impacts of Covid.
He added: “We continue to tryanddothebestwecanwith increasinglyreducedresources so I think the report has to be applauded as a budget, given the hard work the staff fromthecouncilandtheofficers drawing it up have done to get us to a position where we haveabudgetthatwecanwork towards achieving this year.
“So maybe the Government will have a change of heart and actually pay local authorities their worth and give them the money that we are due.”