The leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Fife Council, Tim Brett, has expressed concern about the ongoing financial pressures on the social work service.
Rising demand for social care and children’s services are putting budgets under increasing pressure according to a mid-year financial monitoring report by Brian Livingston, executive director for finance and resources.
The report set out the projected budget position for 2014-15 forecasting a deficit of £3.325 million by year end out of a total budget of nearly £800m.
It identified significant increases in demand for purchased places for children being taken into care and for care packages for adult and older people at a cost of more than £10m.
However this is offset by savings made as a result of continuing low interest rates and unused contingency funds.
The Tay Bridgehead member said: “Despite the (Labour) administration’s assurance that this issue would be addressed through last year’s priority-based budgeting work, it is now clear that the pressures on the social work service have not lessened, and once again we are heading for a significant overspend of £15 million this year.
“This is particularly worrying in the lead-up to the new integrated health and social care service, as I know that there are equal pressures on NHS Fife services.”
Mr Brett said it has been known for many years that pressures on the service would get worse due to the rising numbers of elderly people in the population, and also with more children needing to come into care.
Mr Brett urged both Fife Council and the NHS to think more radically about solutions to these problems.
Fife Council leader David Ross, admitted that while the local authority faced financial challenges, providing services for the region’s most vulnerable people could not be compromised.
Highlighting an increase in demand for social care, he said his administration is juggling its budget to ensure realistic savings could be made without compromising services.