Rutland County Council has published its latest financial progress report, highlighting its biggest costs and the effect these are having on its budget projections.
The Quarter 2 Revenue and Capital Forecast Report was presented to Cabinet on Tuesday 12 November, marking the halfway point in the current financial year. The report explains how Rutland County Council’s latest financial forecasts compare with its annual budget and whether the authority is on track to spend and save what it has previously planned.
As things stand, the Quarter 2 forecast indicates the Council is heading for a net overspend of £2.3m on its budget, due largely to the fact that government funding for schools, known as the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), does not cover the full cost of Rutland’s school provision for children with special educations needs and disabilities (SEND).
For non-school services, the Council is forecasting a small overspend of £0.03m, representing a 0.06% variance from the budget it set back in February 2024. However, this break-even position is only achieved by offsetting in-year budget pressures with savings and one-off income. For example, Rutland County Council has spent £176k more than expected on complex care for adults this year but has also saved £370k thanks to a new waste transfer station contract.
Publication of the Council’s Quarter 2 finance report follows the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget Statement on 30 October, where the government pledged extra funding of £1b for SEND services. However, this represents a 6% increase in funding at a time when demand for these services is rising at more than 20%.
“The Quarter 2 finance report gives you some idea of just how complex and tightly balanced our budget is right now. We’re spending more than we planned in some areas – which is likely to continue in future – but managing to balance the books by making savings elsewhere. Many of these savings will not be repeatable, while our investment income is also higher than we expected because of interest rates. This is very much a one-off. It isn’t something we can expect or predict when planning future budgets, because it depends on market forces that are changing all the time.
“By far the biggest pressure on our budget is overspending on SEND provision that is meant to be paid for by the schools’ grant we receive from government. The cost of these services is considerably greater than money we’re getting and has been for some time. Because of this, we expect to spend £2.3m more than the schools’ grant this year, on top of a £3m overspend from previous years. This is a huge problem that needs addressing at a national level. Here in Rutland, we have a long-term plan to bring these costs under control but not before the current deadline of March 2026. Almost all councils who receive schools’ grant funding are in the same position, if not worse. This is why we called for national SEND reform after the Autumn Budget Statement.”
Cllr Andrew Johnson, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Governance and Resources
Rutland County Council is already working to stabilise or reduce its school cost pressures by taking part in two national initiatives. This includes leadership of the East Midlands Change Programme Partnership (CPP), which aims to improve outcomes and experiences for children and young people with SEND and their families. The Council is also part of the Delivering Better Value Programme (DBV), intending to deliver quicker interventions to stabilise and reduce the deficit on DSG funding.
“There’s a huge amount of work going on to balance the Council’s budget at a time when rising costs and demand for complex care services are being compounded by the state of the global economy and uncertainty about how government plans to fund local councils in the future. We’re doing everything in our power to save money and bring costs down without simply cutting services. We need the government to do its part and get to grips with national funding in key areas where councils are clearly struggling and have been for some time.”
Cllr Andrew Johnson
The agenda and reports for Cabinet on Tuesday 12 November can be read in full on our Meetings page.