Wokingham Borough Council could spend almost £4 million more than it planned to this year – with more than half of that to be spent on home to school transport.
Council documents predict that the authority will end the financial year this coming April some £3.6 million over budget. They pin the blame on insufficient funding and rising costs – especially in children’s services.
They add that councils across Britian face a ‘hugely challenging’ financial situation with several having already declared themselves effectively bankrupt, or threatening to.
Some £2.6 million of the predicted overspend comes from Wokingham Borough Council’s children’s services department. Of that, £1.6 million is to be spent on home to school transport.
The council documents say this is driven by an increase in children with special educational needs requiring transport to specialist schools outside the borough. They add that the costs of providing this transport are also rising.
The figures are included in a report on the councils financial position at the end of the third quarter of this financial year.
The report says that spending pressures add up to some £11 million more than the council had budgeted for. But it says ‘significant mitigating actions’ had brought the predicted overspend down to £3.6 million.
It also says inflation – as measured by the retail price index – reached nearly 12 per cent in 2023, far outstripping the council’s income from council tax and government grants.
The report is set to be discussed by the leading group of councillors – the executive committee – when it meets this evening (Thursday, January 25).
