Agenda item

“We continue to deliver on our priorities and to do what is necessary to support our most vulnerable residents who need us most, while creating the right conditions for our economy to thrive. 

Our work by the ‘We Are Staffordshire’ team to promote the county as a top location to live, work, invest in and visit continues. During the quarter, the team showcased the county at a national online conference with 600+ attendees and are now busy planning for next year’s UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF). This remains a priority, while also growing our economy by supporting local businesses and helping attract new ones with better quality jobs. 

We continue to support vulnerable families through the Household Support Fund and over the summer almost 28,000 families of children in receipt of Free School Meals were issued with supermarket evouchers. Alongside this, the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme which also ran over the summer holidays offered more than 49,000 places and targeted some of our most vulnerable children and young people. 

Work to tackle climate change is ongoing. The Staffordshire Warmer Homes Scheme and an extra £10.5m funding will bring eco-friendly heating solutions to rural properties that stand away from the gas network. A new permit scheme introduced at our Household Waste Recycling Centres is also helping promote sustainable waste disposal, while improving services for customers.  

The council continues to face challenges within Children’s services including the rising cost, higher than anticipated numbers and complexity of Children in Care, and ongoing placement pressures, however additional recruitment is helping ease this. We are also seeing increased demand for Education Health and Care Plans for children with special educational needs, however, additional key workers are now in post.  

Demand for adult social care also remains high with additional capacity being sourced and further options to streamline processes being explored. Despite the many pressures we face, we will invest to keep growing the county in a sustainable way to make a positive difference in the lives of our residents.”  

Leader of the Council 

“All council departments continue to deliver against their priorities, and we continue to manage our finances effectively.  

We continue to keep finances in as strong a position as possible and to ensure that we provide good value for money for local taxpayers. Well managed finances also mean we can invest in our future and continue to grow our economy.  

Like many other councils, we do face rising costs across the organisation and high inflation which puts additional pressures on finances. We also continue to face challenges around demand and capacity within Children’s services, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities teams and in adult social care.  

The latest revenue forecast outturn for the council shows a forecast overspend of £7.7m (1.1), compared to the quarter 1 forecast overspend of £9.5m (1.39%).”  

Ian Parry, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources