SLASHES to funding, tough budget cuts and an increase in people relying on frontline services – it’s the situation facing councils up and down the country, and Somerset County Council is no exception.

The authority, which earlier this year made more than £12 million in cuts and savings to services, has revealed in a report that it is set to overspend by more than £24 million on this year’s budget.

While the council says more than 65 per cent of savings are due to be achieved, at least 20 per cent are no longer deliverable for this year.

It comes just days after a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the County Gazette revealed the amount spent on agency staff for 2015-16 alone was nearly £12.7m.

And it means that there could be an even greater impact on already stretched services, but there will be protection for key frontline roles, with some staff set to be asked to take voluntary redundancy.

The budget monitoring report will be discussed next week at the county council’s cabinet meeting, where councillors will hear what action is being taken.

The two biggest projected overspends are in adults and health operations, which is set to overspend by £12.8m, and children and families operations, by £9.4m.

The report says that one of the main pressures for adult social care is the cost of staff, including £2.87m more than was expected spent on nursing placements, and an extra £1.64m on staffing budgets.

The council said that it is projecting to spend £1.95m more on direct payments – money paid to people who have as- sessed care and support needs by the council – than last year.

An increase in the number of children being fostered and an inadequate rating on children’s services is part of a projected £9.4m overspend and is part of the reason for an in- crease in agency staff.

Figures revealed in the FOI show that the cost of hiring agency staff has risen from £6.9m in 2013-14 to £12.6m in 2015-16.

A spokesman for the county council said that it was largely down to an increased use of agency staff for social work.

The spokesman added: “We have recruited more agency social workers to bring down caseloads so quality can improve and we can attract permanent staff.

“We are working to recruit more permanent children’s social workers and these agency costs will come down.

“Recruitment is very difficult because they are in huge demand across the country, but we’re ahead of schedule on our plan to have 90 per cent children’s social workers permanent by 2019-20.”

“After six years of austerity it’s harder than ever to find savings and stay within budgets,” he added.

“We have addressed overspends in the last two financial years and while the current £24m figure is unprecedented, we have put in place firm measures including a recruitment freeze and a ban on all non-essential spending, to reduce that forecast.

“At this stage these are projections, but that should not detract from the seriousness of the funding situation all councils are facing.

“We have had to save more than £100m over the last five years and expect to lose a further £40m of direct government funding by 2020-21.

“Meanwhile, costs increase – for example, over the last three years we have had to spend an extra £8m supporting vulnerable adults.”

But independent county councillor Mike Rigby said it was time Somerset County Council stood up to the government, saying: “It’s not an overspend, we’re underfunded.

Somerset County Gazette: Mike Rigby

"We’ve got increasing amounts needed to be spent on vulnerable children and adults, yet less funding than ever before.

“It’s about time all the county councils stood together and petitioned the government.

“They act like the government is some remote organisation where you can’t change anything but you can.

“Many councillors voted for our MPs, knowing full well that they would go ahead and pass through these cuts.