The mayor of Middlesbrough has responded to the council’s own forecast of an overspend at the end of 2025/26.
Speaking at a public meeting on Wednesday 3 September, Labour Mayor Chris Cooke said that he was confident that the department currently predicted to have the biggest overspend – children’s care – would finish the year within budget. The mayor took issue with reporting that made it appear like the money has already been spent, when such council updates are predictions.
Earlier this week, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) reported that the council was indeed forecasting an overspend of nearly £4.5m. At the same time in the previous financial year (in the end of quarter one report), the prediction was for a smaller overspend of £3.7m, which ended up being an underspend of over £2m, when figures were finalised, following the conclusion of 2024/25.
The council’s quarter one prediction of a near £4.5m overspend, come the end of 2025/26, is in the event that no further action is taken. This figure was published by the council after more than £6m of central contingencies/other budgets reduced the initial figure from over £10.5m.
When it comes to the language used in reports that come to Executive, Mayor Chris Cooke said: “I am going to try and change some of the wording about how we sort of deal with these reports in the future, because for me, it often gets reported as an overspend, it often gets reported as ‘this is money that’s already gone out of the door’, whereas actually what it is, is a prediction in most cases.”
He said there was a need to be “realistic”, adding: “We need to make sure that we are spending within our limits. So we’re going to try and make sure that we do try and address the ongoing pressures that exist. I’ve had sight of the first draft of the action plan for children’s [care] which is looking really good.”
The Middlesbrough mayor said that previously, in his first year in the job, he did not feel assured about children’s care, seeing the statistics at the end of the first quarter, but now he is in a different place. “Currently, I’m very confident that we’ll be able to get that down, that we’ll be able to get that within budget. And that actually, children’s [care] will continue to do a great job, not only managing finances, but also making sure that we get good outcomes for children, in the same way that adult’s [social care] do.”
Currently, adult social care is expecting a near £1.5m overspend at the end of 2025/26, while children’s care has a forecast overspend of £6.672m. Other departments are expecting smaller overspends, with one other costly area currently appearing to be environment and communities, which is anticipating an overspend just shy of £1.9m. A couple of departments are anticipating underspends, including £839,000 in the finance department.
The mayor highlighted the wider financial picture, saying: “I make no bones about it, we have had a 50% reduction in our overall funding and costs continue to rise, so we are not immune to that. But I am also quite confident that we are working closely with government to try and make sure that in the years coming up, we will start to receive a significantly better settlement, because as much as we need to protect the public purse, it is also important that we have a realistic allocation in the first place.”
