Council responds to ongoing pressures as it sets out current financial position
East Ayrshire Council’s Cabinet this week discussed the challenging financial pressures that are continuing to impact the Council and its services.
Joe McLachlan, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Finance and ICT introduced the Council’s quarterly performance report ‘East Ayrshire Performs’ and explained that the Council has a projected overspend of £8.413m for the financial year 2025/26. This is a substantial improvement on last year’s projected overspend of £20m due to the considerable amount of work carried out by services to produce Recovery Plans which have helped to bring this figure down.
Despite this improvement, significant pressures are still being experienced in certain service areas with challenges relating to Additional Support for Learning and primary and secondary school transport costs, while Community Health and Care services are anticipated to go £5.281m over budget primarily due to pressures within Self-Directed Services, Care at Home and adult services.
Services are currently working to prepare new, or update existing, financial recovery plans to try to address these issues.
Also agreed at Cabinet was:
- the transfer of funding to the Poverty and Inequality Fund to extend the Council’s food provision capacity
- increased funding for the refurbishment of Kilmaurs Primary School
- the transfer of funding to deal with ash dieback disease and make roadside trees safe as well as carrying out replanting
Councillor Douglas Reid, Leader of the Council, said: “The past year has presented us with significant financial challenges, but through careful management, difficult decisions, and by working through our service Recovery Plans, we have made real and measurable progress.
“Innovation and new models of services will still be key to bringing overspends down, and this will include a sustained focus on digital projects that can deliver financial benefits. I am pleased that this year we have been able to produce a digitally interactive East Ayrshire Performs report which further enhances scrutiny and openness, and which allows us to explore financial data across services to identify trends and react quickly to any issues that arise.
“Whilst we must continue to navigate a difficult financial landscape, just as all local authorities do, the positive steps taken over the last year give us a stronger foundation to build on for the future.”