Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report :

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area:

1.1. This is the fourth revenue budget monitoring report for the financial year 2008/09, showing a forecast year end underspend of £2.9m (£1.5m underspend against the Schools Budget and £1.4m underspend on non-schools).

1.2. The most significant variances are on the budgets impacted by activity changes including Home to School Transport, Special Educational Needs (SEN) Out of County Placements, Statemented Pupils and Children Looked After, as well as Services for Young People budgets.

1.3. In addition an underspend is reported against the department's IT budgets as a result of delays incurred implementing some projects (e.g. ContactPoint which has suffered national delays). This has previously been reported as part of a wider planned non-schools underspend of £1.3m, and a request to carry-forward 100% of this to 2009/10 to meet on-going deferred costs has now been approved by the County Council.

1.4. This position incorporates further assumptions around some key areas of expenditure which had not previously been reported. These include:

a) Further revised estimates regarding the cost of payments to 3 and 4 year olds during 2008/09 as a result of more recent information available

b) A review of Children Looked After expenditure and potential savings now considered achievable following a further increase in the number of children being placed in foster care (either within in-house or purchased Independent Foster Provider (IFP) placements).

2) Issues Covered in Report:

2.1. The current forecast outturn position for the Children's Services Department revenue budget as at the end of January 2009 (Period 10) and actions being taken to contain the overall budget position within the cash limit.

3) Recommendations:

3.1. Agree the current financial issues and the management actions that are being undertaken to address them within the 2008/09 budget.

3.2. Agree the issues and latest financial position of the Wessex Youth Offending Team and the Comprehensive CAMHS Commissioning Trust.

MAIN REPORT

1) Purpose of the Report:

1.1. To set out for the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) the current position on the Children's Services revenue budget for 2008/09, including comments on any significant variances and proposed management actions being taken.

1.2. To provide an update on the agreed budget for 2009/10.

2) Contextual Information:

2.1. The 2008/09 budget was agreed by the County Council on 21 February 2008.

2.2. The 2008/09 revised budget and 2009/10 budget was agreed by the County Council on 19 February 2009.

2.3. Appendices are listed at paragraph 11.1.

3) Key Issues:

3.1. Managing budgets impacted by activity changes (e.g. Home to School Transport, Children Looked After).

3.2. Developing new services (e.g. Services for Young People and Hantsdirect).

4) 2008/09 Revenue Budget Summary as at 31 January 2009 (Period 10):

4.1. The projected outturn reported for 2008/09 is an underspend of £2.9m. The variance reported by Schools Budget and non-schools budgets, compared with the revised budget as at period 8 (end of November 2008) is as follows:

	Period 8	Period 10	Change
	£000	£000	£000
Schools Budget	-500	-1,491	-991
Non-schools budget	-1,300	-1,385	-85
Total	-1,800	-2,876	-1,076

4.2. A number of emerging factors have impacted on the forecast outturn reported previously. These include:

a) Further revised estimates regarding the cost of payments to 3 and 4 year olds during 2008/09 as a result of more recent information available

b) A further increase in the number of Children Looked After being placed in foster care (either within in-house or purchased Independent Foster Provider (IFP) placements), resulting in the need to review the assumptions being made around further IFP savings which can realistically be achieved during the current financial year

4.3. This position represents an increase in the forecast underspend since the revised budget was reported in January (based on period 8) which confirmed an overall underspend of £1.8m (£0.5m Schools and £1.3m non-schools).

4.4. At its meeting on 13 February 2009, Schools Forum agreed to carry-forward to 2009/10 the increased Schools Budget underspend to meet the on-going anticipated pressures in relation the Combined Budget, Teachers Pay Reform and Payments for 3 and 4 year olds budgets.

4.5. The major variations within the reported position shown above are as follows:

4.6. The following paragraphs provide brief details on these variations.

Schools Budget

Other Supply Cover (not sickness) -£111,000 (-15.9%)

4.7. As previously reported, an additional £200,000 has been allocated to this budget in 2008/09 on a one-off basis as agreed with Schools Forum, to offset the underlying pressures which are being experienced.

4.8. Growth of £100,000 has been agreed within the 2009/10 budget to address the ongoing pressure expected.

Teachers' Pay Reform Payments -£100,000 (-0.5%)

4.9. A reduction in the projected underspend of £60,000 from the previous report based on information received in respect of the autumn and spring term claims.

4.10. It is anticipated that a significant proportion of this underspend will be required in 2009/10 to meet the cost of back-dated claims. As a result Schools Forum have agreed that this underspend can be carried forward to 2009/10.

Payments for 3 and 4 year olds -£1,500,000 (-5.5%)

4.11. As outlined previously, the forecast against this budget had initially assumed that by September 2008 60% of non Pathfinders for 3 and 4 year old offerings would move to 15 hours provision per week. As a result of grant uncertainties and revised allocations, this 60% tranche was delayed from September 2008 until January 2009. The most up to date information available suggests that these delays will now produce a one off budget saving of £1,500,000 in 2008/09.

4.12. This change has occurred for two reasons. Firstly, updated information received around the expected profile of early years settings who are now expected to join the pathfinder in January 2009 (including a reduction in the original anticipated numbers) has resulted in the previous underspend estimate of £500,000 increasing to £856,000. In addition, changes to the Standards Fund grant conditions has enabled the department to achieve a further underspend of approximately £644,000 against the Schools Budget. This is as a result of some of the costs of existing pathfinders (£337,000) and additional pathfinder settings (£307,000) now being able to be charged to the Standards Fund grant rather then the Schools Budget as originally anticipated.

4.13. Of this underspend, £630,000 has been estimated as needing to be carried forward over the next two years to ensure that the move from 12.5 to 15 hours provision can be achieved. Schools Forum have therefore agreed to carry-forward underspend to 2009/10 for this purpose.

Statemented Pupils -£559,000 (-6.5%)

4.14. This underspend has increased by £48,000, which is primarily due to a review of the financial commitments based on the known pupil numbers being supported during the Spring term. The number of pupils reported with low incidence statements (which represents a significant proportion of this budget) has reduced slightly over the last two years as follows:

	Number of pupils with low incidence statements	% reduction on previous year (at January)
As at:
January 2007	916	-
January 2008	868	-5.2%
January 2009	833	-4.0%

4.15. However, whilst this position has reduced over the past two years (particularly for primary pupils), prior to this the number of pupils with low incidence statements would vary considerably, so it is important to note that this reduction may not be sustainable.

Out County and Pre-School Placements +£590,000 (+7.0%)

4.16. The forecast overspend is on Out County Special School Placements (£710,000), offset by an underspend of £120,000 in respect of pre-school placements.

4.17. The pressures partly arise from a higher number of pupils being placed in out county provision compared to the previous financial year. The number of pupils as at January 2009 was 234 compared with 221 as at January 2008 (an increase of 5.9%).

4.18. In addition, whilst work continues to review and negotiate fee amounts, the high cost of some placements, and the inflation increase of fees above the 2.5% allocated, has further contributed to the overspend forecast against this budget.

4.19. This position assumes a number of new placements being made pending the outcome of tribunals, as well as assumptions around potential leavers and outcomes of fee negotiations for existing placements.

Non-Schools Budget

Home to School and College Transport +£673,000 (+2.9%)

4.20. The current overspend position reported is based on updated information received on the number of pupils being transported and contract price negotiations completed as at the end of January. The forecast overspend consists of:

a) Escort Costs +£13,000, as a result of necessary route changes and relief escort costs being higher then originally estimated

b) Contract Costs +£623,000, which consists of a pressure of £597,000 on annual and daily contracts, and £26,000 on other contract headings (including increased costs relating to parental contracts)

c) Season tickets +£40,000, as a result of a greater pupil numbers using such transport, including some pupils from low income families being entitled to transport, as well as an increase in prices

d) Income -£3,000, reflecting lower then previously expected levels of income

4.21. This position includes an assumption that £100,000 of one-off funding made available for a Children Looked After transport pilot will now not be spent during 2008/09. It also takes in to consideration the impact of any re-priced contracts.

Interest on School Balances +£417,000 (+34.4%)

4.22. This represents the interest retained by the County Council in relation to Nursery, Primary and Special School balances.

4.23. Following the recent reductions in the Bank of England base rate to 1.0%, it is envisaged that this will have an adverse impact on the level of interest that can now be expected to be accrued against these balances during 2008/09.

IT -£1,066,000 (-12.4%)

4.24. This position takes into account the projected underspend due to the national delay in implementing ContactPoint, as well a delay in implementing various other departmental IT pressures which will continue in to 2009/10. Subject to the department's overall budget position, and any supporting grant conditions, it is envisaged to carry-forward this planned underspend to meet the deferred costs in 2009/10.

4.25. An underspend against the staffing budget as a result of delays in recruitment during 2008/09 further impacts on this position. These represent one-off savings in 2008/09.

Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative -£580,000

4.26. This is a one-off amount received during 2008/09 from the DCSF following the successful pursuit of a grant claim in relation to the former Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative Grant relating to 2004/05 and 2005/06.

Building Schools for the Future (BSF) +£300,000 (+150.0%)

4.27. A growth allocation of £200,000 was agreed in respect of the 2008/09 budget to meet the then anticipated costs of preparing the department for Building Schools for the Future. Since then the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) announced the potential for earlier entry in to the BSF, accelerating the preparatory work. Further work to establish the full revenue implications of the initial project work in these early stages, which includes the cost of ICT development and Property Services charges, has identified estimated costs of £500,000 during 2008/09, resulting in a projected overspend of £300,000.

Services for Young People -£646,000 (-5.3%)

4.28. This primarily relates to one-off savings achieved within the Connexions Consortium Teams and District Youth Teams as a result of staff vacancies. It also incorporates a reported overspend of £230,000 in respect of IT provision as a result of the initial set up of the Connexions Consortia Teams following the transfer of the service to the County Council.

4.29. This represents a slight reduction in forecast underspend against these budgets of approximately £30,000 compared with the revised budget (based on the end of November 2008 forecast position) reported to the Executive Lead Member in January 2009.

4.30. A significant proportion of the forecast underspend reported relates to the Connexions Consortium Teams (approximately £500,000). This underspend has mainly arisen due to the number of vacancies within these teams experienced throughout 2008/09 in respect of posts that were not filled as part of the `slotting in' process of staff and additional practitioner posts that have been created. Whilst many of these vacant positions have now been recruited to, a large proportion of staff will not commence employment with Hampshire County Council until late February/March. Prior to the revised budget being agreed, it had been anticipated that all vacancies would be appointed with effect from the beginning of January at mid-point of the salary range budgeted. This assumption has not been realised due to more complex transfer and subsequent recruitment processes than originally anticipated and unavoidable delays in the successful applicants starting their new roles.

4.31. It should be noted that some areas of final expenditure are still in the process of being confirmed (e.g. premises costs). It is, therefore, possible that there may be some further changes in actual expenditure at the end of the year.

Commissioning and Social Work -£881,000 (-6.3%)

4.32. Following the changes in the service, partly arising from the implementation of Hantsdirect and the growth investment of £600,000 for qualified social workers within the 2008/09 budget, work continues by the Children and Families branch to implement the revised social work team structure. It is currently envisaged that this new structure will be implemented across the county by April 2009.

4.33. In view of the additional investment received in the current financial year, the department is able to demonstrate that the on-going county-wide recruitment campaigns have had some success in recruiting to vacancies across the service.

4.34. The forecast underspend takes into consideration the latest assumptions around recruitment to vacant Team Manager and Social Work vacancies.

4.35. Further information on the progress being made by the department in the recruitment and retention of social workers is provided in section 10.

Children Looked After +£576,000 (+1.8%)

4.36. The graph below shows the recent change in the numbers of children in full-time care since March 2007. As at the end of January 2009 1,063 children were recorded as being in the care of the County Council. This represents a net increase of 40 children since the end of March 2008.

4.37. These children are in a number of different placement arrangements including fostering and residential care, as well as other arrangements such as supported lodgings, secure welfare accommodation, placed for adoption (subject to final approval), as well as in some circumstances living at home with their parent(s). It excludes children with a disability who receive short programmed breaks.

[1] excludes programmed short-breaks for CWD

4.38. This table demonstrates that the number of children in full-time care has increased by nine since November from 1,054 to 1,063 as at the end of January. It should also be noted that a greater proportion of children have been placed within either a foster care or residential placement (881 in January compared with 850 in November), whilst other less costly arrangements (e.g. those placed at home on care orders and in supported lodgings) have reduced. This has resulted in an increase in forecast expenditure against Children Looked After budgets.

4.39. The overall variation reported for Children Looked After is broken down as follows:

	Cash Limit £'000	January Variance £000	January Variance %
Non County Placements (NCPs)	9,158	-564	-6.2
Independent Fostering Providers (IFPs)	6,138	+967	+15.8
HCC Fostering	10,635	+520	+4.9
HCC Children's Homes	6,097	-373	-6.1
Other Residential	393	+26	+6.6
Total	32,421	+576	+1.8

Non County Placements

4.40. The forecast underspend of £564,000 represents -6.2% of the cash limit of £9,158,000. Since the end of November, activity has reduced by five placements from 57 to 52 as at the end of January 2009.

4.41. The budget was set at an average of 57 placements for the year. So far this year the average activity has been 55, resulting in lower actual expenditure. In addition, some success has been achieved in respect of re-negotiating fees with providers and securing Primary Care Trust contributions as a result of reviewing individual placements.

Independent Fostering Providers (IFPs)

4.42. The current forecast outturn indicates an overspend of £967,000 which represents +15.8% of the cash limit of £6,138,000.

4.43. The number of children placed within independent fostering provider placements has increased by five since the end of November 2008, from 161 to 166. Since the beginning of the year 92 new placements have been recorded, and 69 have been confirmed as ceasing (i.e. a net increase of 23 placements since the end of March 2008).

4.44. As part of the 2008/09 budget setting process the cash limit was reduced by £400,000 to reflect the impact of the additional investment in in-house fostering services. The increasing number of children looked after being placed within foster care (either in-house or IFP) has resulted in this saving not being achievable.

4.45. In view of recent growth in the number of children requiring foster care placements, the current reported position has removed further estimated savings of £150,000 against this budget which had previously been expected to be realised towards the end of the financial year as a result of the fostering investment.

In-house Fostering Service

4.46. The current forecast outturn indicates an overspend of £520,000 which represents +4.9% of the cash limit of £10,635,000.

4.47. This position includes the increased investment of £1.8 million for the in-house fostering budgets, some of which relates to investment within the Family Placement teams who support the foster carers.

4.48. The number of children placed with Hampshire County Council foster carers since November 2008 has increased by 35 from 599 to 634 placements (this position is based on the average number of children placed in foster care during the month where a payment is made, rather then a snapshot of activity at the end of the month).

4.49. The current activity levels represents an increase of 100 from the baseline of 534 placements identified in the Business Case for investment in the service.

Return on Foster Carer Business Case

4.50. The fostering budget has been set based on a number of assumptions around expected growth in activity levels and target reductions in IFPs as part of the Hampshire Fostering Service investment business case, which was prepared in December 2007. The following table shows some of the key activity areas, compared with the budgeted average activity, and the target numbers as at March 2009 as per the business case assumptions):

[2] numbers as per the business case (Dec 2007)

4.51. The number of enquiries about fostering for Hampshire continues to produce promising results, and further success has been achieved in attracting the department's target group of professional foster carers.

4.52. Due to the increase in numbers of Children Looked After, and ultimately the need for foster care provision overall, there has consequently been additional demand on these services. The requirement for foster placements has increased significantly from the baseline and a consequent additional cost pressure has emerged, impacting on the return on the investment.

4.53. By analysing the relative population of the in house and IFP placements it is possible to assess any improvements and make a judgement on the return on investment.

4.54. The comparison is summarised below:

4.55. Whilst the comparison above shows a deterioration in the ratio of in-house foster care placements to every one IFP placement since March 2008, this has improved since the end of November (3.71:1) and is now slightly above the business case baseline. However, this needs to be considered alongside the wider issue of increasing numbers of Children Looked After, and the information collected demonstrates that the investment has significantly increased capacity within the in-house service, avoiding the need for an even higher number of IFP placements than currently forecast.

Residential Children's Homes

4.56. The current forecast outturn indicates an underspend of £373,000 which represents -6.1% of the cash limit of £6,097,000.

4.57. This underspend reflects a number of one-off temporary savings for 2008/09 against individual home budgets. In addition, delays in implementing the new Intensive Support Service in the North and East of the County following the closure of the Corner House (Aldershot) has resulted in the underspend against this budget offsetting the underlying position reported for children's homes for 2008/09.

Family Support Service +£108,000 (1.5%)

4.58. The forecast overspend consists of:

	Cash Limit £'000	January Variance £'000	January Variance %
Direct Payments	674	+6	+0.9
Day Care	528	-83	-15.7
Services for Under 8s	123	-5	-4.1
Home Care	743	+19	+2.6
Equipment and Adaptations	518	0	0
Other Family Support	4,570	+171	+3.7
Total	7,156	+108	+1.5

4.59. Pressures on home care support reflect an increase in preventative support packages to enable children with disabilities to remain at home. The number of children being supported by direct payments has increased from 163 as at the end of March 2008 to 173 as at the end of January, an increase of 5.8%.

4.60. The most significant variance reported is against Other Family Support and is mainly due to the number of children placed within kinship care, special guardianship or residence order arrangements increasing since March 2008 (from 226 to 262, a net increase of 36). The department had anticipated there to be little growth in the number of children supported via these type of arrangements in 2008/09. However, as the number of children looked after has increased, so also has the demand for other types of support such as special guardianship arrangements. The net increase of 36 children has therefore resulted in a forecast overspend being reported against the original budget set. This has avoided further potential increased costs against the Children Looked After budget by preventing some of these children moving in to the care of the County Council.

Other Children's Services +£1,008,000 (+15.7%)

4.61. The forecast overspend consists of:

	Cash Limit £'000	January Variance £'000	January Variance %
Adoption Services	2,273	+133	+5.9
Leaving Care Services	1,628	+766	+47.1
Other Children's Services	2,529	+109	+4.3
Total	6,430	+1,008	+15.7

4.62. The overspend within adoption services has partly arisen due to an increase in expenditure on adoption allowances since last year. The average number of children who were being financially supported through adoption allowance payments in 2007/08 was 209, compared with an average of 223 for 2008/09 as at the end of December, an increase of 6.7%.

4.63. The overspend against the Care Leavers budget reflects a steady increase in the number of care leavers who are continuing to be supported by the department since 2007/08. This is demonstrated below:

Number of Care Leavers supported by social care teams as at:
31 March 2007	31 January 2008	Average during 2007/08	31 March 2008	31 January 2009	Average so far during 2008/09
426	478	466	485	528	501

4.64. This represents a 7.5% increase in the average number of care leavers who continue to be supported by the County Council since 2007/08, and this increase in activity (and related expenditure) has mainly been observed within the North and East area of the County. Detailed work undertaken to review the current provisions for care leavers has been completed and the forecast reported is considered to an accurate projection of costs at this time. However, further work is now underway to ensure that support to care leavers is being provided in a consistent way across the county.

4.65. In addition further analysis of the age profile of the current Children Looked After population is being undertaken to help determine any further potential impact that could be expected against the 2009/10 Care Leavers budget.

4.66. The overspend within the Other Children's Services budget is mainly due to pressures related to providing transport for children.

Management and Support -£429,000 (-10.2%)

4.67. The forecast underspend takes into consideration a projected underspend of approximately £150,000 against the additional budget allocation received in 2008/09 following the introduction of the new Public Law Outline (PLO), replacing the previous protocol for Judicial Case Management in Public Law Children Act cases.

4.68. This is a change in the process leading up to care proceedings and it is possible that relevant expenditure is not being fully captured against this budget in some instances, but elsewhere within the children's social care reporting structure. This may not, therefore, be a true reflection of the full PLO costs being incurred. Extreme caution is needed given that in other authorities care proceedings appear to be increasing and the level of expenditure in this area could, therefore, rise in the coming months.

4.69. In addition one-off funding available during 2008/09 as well as other management action has enabled the department to achieve some savings against this budget on a temporary basis.

5) Partnerships:

5.1. Within Children's Services there are two `significant' partnerships - Wessex Youth Offending Team (YOT) and the Comprehensive CAMHS Commissioning Trust.

Wessex YOT

5.2. The total adjusted cash limited budget for Wessex YOT in 2008/09 was agreed at £9.2m. It is funded primarily by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and partner organisations (whose contributions may be in cash and/or contributions in kind). The original contribution from the Children's Services Department for 2008/09 was £2.2m. During 2008/09 additional services have been transferred to Wessex YOT, primarily those managed by the former South Central Connexions Partnership, in effect increasing the Department's contribution by £734,500, as follows:

(1) Keeping Young People Engaged (YJB Grant) Funding of personal Advisers working with young offenders to offer advice/support in gaining full-time education or training	£191,200
(2) Services For Young People Transfer of funding for Personal Advisers working in YOT teams to advise/support young people in gaining full-time education or training	£207,700
(3) Award Project Funding of staff involved in Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme	£169,600
(4) Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP) Funding of specific projects	£166,000

5.3. Partners agreed a three year budget strategy for 2008/09 to 2010/11 and it is anticipated that, in addition to the above services, agreed increases for 2009/10 will be confirmed at the Management Board's next meeting on 11 March 2009.

Comprehensive CAMHS Commissioning Trust

5.4. The Trust's Management Board received a draft budget for 2009/10 at its meeting on 6 January 2009. The budget includes significant additional health services contracted through the Hampshire Primary Care Trust that are being transferred into the partnership, estimated as follows:

Service	£000
Winchester & Eastleigh Healthcare Trust	1,088
Salisbury Healthcare Trust	122
Southampton City PCT	1,806
Hampshire PCT (North)	1,825
Hampshire PCT (South East)	1,833
Total	6,674

5.5. The Trust's Management Board will finalise the 2009/10 budget at its meeting on 10 March 2009.

6) Business Units:

6.1. Appendix 3 shows the forecast year end business unit balances as at the end of December 2008 compared with the original budget. These forecasts are reviewed on a quarterly basis. This shows that overall an in-year surplus balance of £577,000 is estimated to be achieved against the original budget.

6.2. This is an increase in the estimated reserves as at 31 March 2009 of £555,000 since the previous report. The most significant change relates to an increase in the in-year forecast surplus for HIAS of £424,000 against the original budget (from a deficit of £35,000 to a surplus of £389,000), resulting in estimated reserves of approximately £2.5m as at 31 March 2009 for the business unit. This position takes into consideration the most up to date information on the 2008/09 Standards Fund programme, as well as expected changes in anticipated activity levels. It is planned to use these reserves to meet the expected shortfall of the National Strategy Consultant posts over the next three years.

6.3. Stubbington Study Centre is also projecting estimated reserves of £501,000, and it is intended that these reserves will be used towards meeting the cost of replacement dormitories in the future.

7) Savings Targets:

7.1. An update of the current achievement against the department's savings targets for 2008/09 of £1,555,000 is shown in Appendix 4. This identifies that as at the end of January 2009 £1,135,000 of this overall target was expected to be achieved.

7.2. The key area where the target is not being reported as achieved is the £400,000 in respect of Independent Fostering Provider (IFP) placements. However, as outlined within paragraph 4.55 significant cost avoidance in relation to IFP placements as a result of the business case can be demonstrated.

8) School Balances:

8.1. At its meeting on 13 February 2009 Schools Forum considered an update report on the implementation of the revised clawback policy in relation to schools' surplus balances. As at 31 March 2008 schools' net balances were £47m.

8.2. Schools Forum was reminded of the revised clawback (of excessive balances) policy that has been introduced in 2008/09, with tighter definitions of purposes for which schools would be allowed to carry forward unspent balances. The policy emphasises the need to ensure that current funding is used for current pupils. Considerable effort has been put into the process to ensure that schools are aware of, and planning for, this new policy.

8.3. The report provided a brief summary of the financial statements on balances that schools were required to provide by 31 December 2008, showing that balances should reduce by £21.4m to about £25.7m by 31 March 2009. According to the information on the returns supplied, a potential claw back of £0.2m from surplus balances has also been identified. However, it has been noted that the balance returns submitted by schools in January 2008 for 2007/08 forecast a similar reduction in balances for 2007/08 but at the year end there was a resultant increase of about 15%. A report on the 2007/08 position was considered by the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) on 24 July 2008 and can be found at: /decisions/decisions-docs/080724-excsed-R0717111740

8.4. Schools Forum was concerned that some schools had not made their financial returns in compliance with the required timescale and agreed to issue Notices of Concern to those schools who had failed to do so as at 12 February (16 schools).

8.5. Schools are required to submit returns by 1 May where there have been changes to these figures. These will be subject to close scrutiny. In the meantime Education Financial Services are working with those schools who face the most challenging financial positions.

8.6. Details of the final figures for 2008/09 will be available in May and will be reported to Schools Forum and the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education).

9) 2009/10 Budget Update:

9.1. The 2009/10 Revenue Budget was approved by County Council on 19 February 2009. This included the following revisions to the Children's Services budget which was previously presented to the Executive Lead Member on 21 January 2009:

a) a reduced forecast for pay increases (from 2.5% to 1.5%) and for price increases (from 2.5% to 2.25%). This has enabled the County Council to approve a 1.9% increase in Council Tax. It should be noted, however, that this change will negatively impact the department where agreements for inflation exceed these levels. For example, the Fostering Network recommended rates for foster care allowances has increased by 2.8% in 2009/10. As Hampshire's allowances have been agreed to be paid at this level, this will represent an on-going pressure of approximately £30,000 in 2009/10 against the agreed budget.

b) an additional £1.2m for Children's Services towards meeting the cost of reducing risk in the practice of safeguarding through maximising the time available for qualified social workers to work directly with clients and focus on high quality social work practice. This continuing resource allocation will provide:

_ 28 extra (a 10% increase) social care support staff and family support workers (£730,000)

_ seven more staff in a restructured independent reviewing service (£300,000)

_ three professional social work practitioner posts based permanently within Hantsdirect to respond to initial contacts (£130,000)

c) an additional £0.5m in respect of Building Schools for the Future towards meeting the funding shortfall previously identified in respect of the initial feasibility and project management work required. This corporate contribution to the programme has been agreed on a one-off basis for 2009/10 only.

9.2. At its meeting on 13 February Schools Forum considered the impact of the reduced pay and price increase forecasts outlined above, but agreed not to make any adjustments to the Schools Budget assumptions at this stage.

9.3. Schools Forum also considered the 2008/09 forecast underspend of £1.3m reported against the Schools Budget as at the end of December 2008, and agreed to carry this budget forward in full to 2009/10 to meet anticipated pressures as outlined below:

	£000
Schools Budget forecast underspend (reported as at December 2008)	1,327
Less carry forward previously declared and committed in 2009/10	-500
Less requested carry forward of Combined Budget	-40
Less requested carry forward of Teachers Pay Reform budget	-100
Less requested carry forward of Payments for 3 and 4 year olds budget	-630
Remaining forecast underspend	57

9.4. As outlined in earlier in this report, the forecast underspend reported against the Schools Budget as at the end of January 2009 has increased to £1.4m.

10) Recruitment:

10.1. This report highlights certain recruitment issues which have emerged throughout the year in relation to Social Workers and the Connexions Consortium teams, resulting in underspends in both of these areas. These situations have arisen due to very different issues, but they are both actively being addressed through individual targeted recruitment campaigns.

10.2. The last budget report to the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) provided an update on the outcomes of the September county-wide recruitment campaign for Social Workers. A further campaign was undertaken during October, and for the 18 social worker vacancies which were being recruited to in this round, 36 applications were received. Following interviews undertaken in respect of these posts 11 positions were offered and accepted, of which 5 were newly qualified social workers. A further campaign is underway to recruit to 17 social worker vacancies, and an update will be provided in the next report.

10.3. As outlined within paragraph 4.30 of the report, the recruitment process to appoint to the vacant positions within the Connexions Consortium teams has taken longer then originally anticipated. This is primarily due to the complexities surrounding the transfer arrangements of staff in respect of pay and conditions. Interviews for vacant positions were undertaken during November, and a significant proportion of the vacant posts were successfully recruited to.

10.4. The department is also now in the process of responding to the workforce implications of the additional £1.2m budget which has been agreed to be allocated to Children's Services in 2009/10. This new money will address potential risks within safeguarding practices through maximising the time available for qualified social workers to work directly with clients and focus on high quality social work practice. Further information is contained within paragraph 9.1(b) regarding this additional funding agreement.

10.5. Advertisements for these new posts have already been published, and the response received so far is extremely positive with approximately 430 enquiries for further information and 367 applications actually having been received as at the 3 March. The closing date for this particular recruitment campaign is 12 March 2009, and it is anticipated from the response received so far that many of these new posts will be filled very early in the new financial year and will be supported by a robust induction and training programme to maximise the impact of these staff as quickly as possible.

11) Appendices:

11.1. The following appendices are attached:

Appendix
1	Budget Monitoring Summary
2	Activity Data	(a) termly (b) monthly
3	Forecast Business Unit balances
4	Savings Targets

12) Conclusions:

12.1. There is currently a projected underspend of £2.9m for 2008/09, £1.5m against the Schools budget and £1.4m against the non-schools budget. This compares with £1.8m outlined within the revised budget, of which £0.5m related to Schools and £1.3m to non-schools.

13) Summary Recommendations:

13.1. Agree the current financial issues and the management actions that are being undertaken to address them within the 2008/09 budget.

13.2. Agree the issues and latest financial position of the Wessex Youth Offending Team and the Comprehensive CAMHS Commissioning Trust.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION: