Southend Council is forming a new team to manage and cut costs in children’s services
Southend: The council is making some big changes to its children’s services. They’ve agreed to let 13 staff members go, out of 60 who applied for voluntary redundancies. Plus, they’re cutting eight mostly unfilled positions. But don’t worry, they’re also bringing in seven new roles.
Four of these new positions will be part of a “brokerage team.” This team is all about negotiating better deals for the council, especially since the costs for children’s care placements are skyrocketing.
The council leader, Daniel Cowan, believes this new team will help them get more bang for their buck while still providing the necessary support for kids.
He mentioned that by the end of November, the projected overspend for children’s services was a whopping £6.3 million. If it weren’t for that, they’d actually be looking at a £1.6 million underspend.
Cowan pointed out that the demand for placements is really putting a strain on their budget. They’re trying to get a handle on that situation.
To help, they’ve added an extra £4.75 million to the children’s services budget, and some of that will be managed by the new brokerage team.
The council is also reviewing how it spends on children’s services. They’re hoping to open their own residential home and refurbish some existing accommodations to cut costs.
Mr. Cowan added that the average cost for a children’s placement is currently £352,000. If they can bring that down to £300,000, they could avoid overspending altogether.
