Social Value Ideas for Durham County Council

Children's social care overspend

Cabinet acknowledged a material and enduring overspend in children and young people’s services, particularly in children’s social care and the wider SEND system. The pressure is driving additional soc…

“In total, our service group ends underspent by a combined 3,100,000 in year. However, this position includes significant overspend in children and you…”

Children’s social care cost growth

The main financial pressure identified across the budget and forecast reports is escalating demand and cost in children’s social care, especially looked-after placement costs and staffing. Members rep…

“The uncertainty this year is all around inflation and demand impacts on the council's budget position with the major risk being that children looked a…”

Children's social care overspend

The quarter four performance report identified persistent demand pressure in children’s social care, including nearly 1,500 referrals in the quarter and a £5 million overspend on placement budgets las…

“Within children's social care, demand remains persistently high with almost 1,500 referrals in quarter four alone. Assessment timeliness, however, rem…”

Solar park refused in Green Belt

The cross-boundary solar park was recommended for refusal and the committee supported that recommendation because officers judged the proposal to cause unacceptable landscape harm, harm to residential…

“Speaker 4: Having weighed this harm in the planning balance, it is not considered that the benefits outweigh the harm and that the proposal would be c…”

Great Lumley housing refusal

Despite the officer recommendation, members voted to refuse the 93-dwelling Great Lumley application, with the motion framed around conflicts with policies 6, 10, 21 and 29. The committee expressly de…

“The vote will be for to go with Councillor Bell's recommendation of going against the officer's decision. Can I have all in favors of that? Just”

BESS refused on landscape harm

The committee rejected the battery energy storage system because members concluded the landscape and visual harm outweighed the renewable energy benefits. Safety concerns were discussed extensively, b…

“Speaker 19: Yes. I think after listening to what Neil's got to say and reading paragraph two forty eight, we obviously can't consider that today. So w…”

Q2 2025/26 General Fund Outturn Forecast

General fund forecasted underspend of £4.758m to year-end (revised down £3.307m from Q1 forecast). General reserve forecast to be £35.916m at year-end (5.76% of net budget requirement), within policy …

“The general fund under spend to the year end is now forecast to be 4.758 million which is 3307 million pound less than what was forecast at quarter 1 …”

General Revenue Budget Position Q3 2023-24

Cash limit general reserves forecast at £30.3m at 31 March 2024 (5.8% of net budget requirement). Position within target parameters of 5-7.5% (£28.2m-£42.4m for 2024-25). Net cash limit overspend acro…

“the general Reserve at the end of this year will be 5.8% of the council's net budget requirement and therefore within the parameters of maintaining th…”

Unavoidable Inflationary and Pay Cost Pressures

Budget pressures total £52.2m in 2026-27 and £141m across MTFP period driven by pay inflation (4.1% national living wage increase), adult social care cost increases linked to care market pressures, ch…

“The report sets out in some detail the financial pressures we are facing and the growth that is needed uh next year to address unavoidable uh spending…”