Social care overspend has doubled in three months

West Berkshire Council's adult social care department overspend has jumped to £1.7 million

FIGURES have been released which show West Berkshire Council's adult social care department has overspent by £1.7 million this year, almost double the amount it previously recorded three months ago.

Serious questions are to be asked of the council's budgeting and the state of the department at this Thursday's executive meeting when a report on the authority's financial status is presented.

In September the council announced an overspend of £968,000 in adult social care, and said it was taking steps to mitigate the problem.

Just three months later that amount has nearly doubled.

Big cuts to other departments have helped to rein the total overspend to £443,000.

Older person and disability budgets are expected to be in the red to the tune of around £400,000 as a direct result of the closures to day centres and introduction to personal budgets, despite the switch being brought in to help save money.

The report states management have taken steps to control spending but will have impact over time and are too early to be reflected in the current figures.