Blackburn with Darwen Council facing budget gap of almost £8m

Blackburn with Darwen Council’s finance boss has warned that the authority faces a potential cash gap of £7.8million by the end of the financial year based on spending figures for the three months to June 30.

Cllr Vicky McGurk gives the forecast to senior colleagues in a report to the borough’s ruling executive board meeting on Thursday.

She asks them to ‘note the General Fund Forecast Outturn overspend of £7.783m as at June 30 subject to any mitigation measures’.

Cllr McGurk also asks the meeting to ‘instruct the corporate leadership team to develop proposals to bring the budget back into balance by the year end and for those proposals to be considered by the executive board at its meeting in October 2025’.

Her report follows Blackburn with Darwen Council recording a £4.4m surplus on its final year budget for 2024/25.

Cllr McGurk’s report reveals the biggest predicted overspend is for children, young people and education totalling £8.512m.

That is despite the forecast outturn for the Schools and Education Dedicated Schools Grant portfolio being breakeven.

It says: “The key variances to note include:

“ • a forecast overspend of £8m on the commissioned placements budget. This is reflective of a sustained increase in the numbers of children in care, with an increasing number of those children being placed in expensive residential accommodation due to their specific needs;

“ • a forecast overspend of £997,000 against social care staffing budgets. Recruitment and retention of social workers remain an ongoing issue which continues to result in the necessary use of agency staff to maintain safe and manageable caseloads; and

“• increasing demand for home to school transport for children with SEND, resulting in a forecast pressure of £709,000.”

The forecast outturn position in the report for adult social care and health is an overspend of £106,000.

The forecast outturn position for housing and public health, is an overspend of £95,000.

The forecast outturn position for environment and operations is an underspend of £198,000.

The forecast outturn position for growth and development is an overspend of £1.648m.

The forecast outturn position for finance and governance is an underspend of £247,000.

The forecast outturn position for digital and customer services is an underspend of £280,000.

The forecast outturn position for other corporate income and expenditure budgets is an underspend of £1.853m.

Cllr McGurk’s report says: ““The council’s Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) showed a funding gap of £18.8m by 2028/29, with the most immediate issue being a gap of £11.1m in 2026/27.

“Should there be no further mitigation during the remainder of the financial year, the council would need to draw an additional £7.783m from its reserves and balances to achieve a balanced budget.”