£4m overspend warning just three months after Sefton Council sets budget
Children Social Care costs are ballooning and savings must now be found
Hello and welcome to the midweek edition of The Southport Lead.
In April, Sefton Council passed its 2026/27 budget only with the help of special government approval to allow the inclusion of property and land sales to cover a £12m shortfall. Just three months later, it is now forecast that it will still overspend on that budget millions of pounds amid ballooning expenditure.
As the authority faces strong opposition to the section of that budget which saved £60k by closing Botanic Gardens aviary, as well as renewed calls to be more transparent over the costings of the Marine Lake Events Centre development, the council’s leadership is now faced with finding millions more in savings.
As is often the case in such things, the biggest overspend is in social care which continues to far and away the greatest financial burden - and the most difficult to control. Today’s main story focuses on how another budget appears to be getting out of control.
Southport briefing
🏌️ The official attendance for The Open has been confirmed as 306,000, a new record in for the championship. The figure compares to last year’s record-setting 278,000 fans at Royal Portrush in Norther Ireland and significant increase from the last time the Open was held at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in 2017 when the total attendance was 235,000. Businesses nearby have reported significant increases in turnover, while Sefton Council handed out more than 40,000 tourist information leaflets as it sought to capitalise on the influx of visitors. Southport golfer Tommy Fleetwood enjoyed rapturous support throughout and ultimately finished three shots behind winner Ricky Fox. Afterwards, he said: “This week has given me and my family moments and memories that will last forever. I am forever grateful for the support everyone has given me and the love that you all showed and I’m so proud of my hometown for The Open that you delivered! What an honour and a privilege to have played in that atmosphere in front of you all, thank you! I hope we get to do it again!”
🍻 Southport MP Patrick Hurley issued a rallying call to the community as he talked up the role of pubs in fighting both social isolation and the rise of the far right. Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate on isolation and hidden deprivation in coastal communities, he said: “I represent the lovely seaside town of Southport, and like many coastal MPs, I know that our lovely towns can be deceptive because behind the frontage there are lower wages, poor health, seasonal work and young people leaving. That is why I welcome how this debate has been framed, because as well as being economic, the challenge facing our coastal areas is social.” Citing various research which pointed to the impact of the loss of shared spaces, he highlighted Diane Bolet’s academic paper “Drinking Alone” which charts a correlation between the loss of the local pub and the likelihood of the local population to vote for the radical right. He added: “When the general public hear about infrastructure, they tend to think about roads, but social infrastructure matters too. Youth clubs, sports clubs, libraries, community centres, parks and gardens, faith groups - all of that. I say to anybody watching this debate back in Southport: please get involved. Please help to make our town the town it can be in whatever way you can.”
🏥 A senior Lancashire County Councillor has promised the authority will continue to challenging the decision to close the Children A&E Department at Ormskirk and relocate it to Southport but says it will not reconvene a dedicated scrutiny group. The decision was reacted to with anger in West Lancashire and concerns was raised over whether the feedback from the consultation process was properly listened to before the Shaping Care Together programme concluded that Southport was the best location. County Cllr Graham Dalton said the matter has been referred to Government for a review and said “we as a Reform council remain firmly opposed to the poor decision making and will continue in the scrutinising of the implementation of this programme”. He added: “Further scrutiny has already been built into our work programme and we will continue to hold the NHS to account on behalf of the residents of Lancashire.”
🚧 Plans to knock down the former Oldfield car showroom and replace it with a block of flats have been rejected. The business closed down in 2022 after more than 100 years of trading when the owners decided to retire. The building, on Queens Road, has since been used for the likes of martial arts training and plans were approved last year to split it into three units which would have included fitness uses such as that. However, new plans were submitted in April which would have seen it demolished and replace by a four-storey building housing 12 flats. Sefton Council has yet to publish a decision notice explaining its reasoning and did not respond to a request from The Southport Lead.
£4m overspend warning just three months after Sefton Council sets budget
By Jamie Lopez
Sefton Council is already forecast to overspend its annual budget by £4.2m - just three months after setting it.
Councils are legally obliged to set a balanced budget each year and Sefton’s was set in April only thanks to special Government approval to include £12m of asset sales to achieve that.
However, new forecasts show that millions of pounds will need to be saved, with the cost of Children’s Social Care proving a particular issue and departments across the council ordered to find savings.
A report going before the council’s cabinet tomorrow outlines the first review of the budget and finds a forecast overspend of £4.2m. However, Children’s Social Care alone is forecast to overspend by £11.8m in that final total includes £1m of savings and a fall of £9m which was built in to account for additional pressure seen last year which had the potential to reduce.
Last year, Sefton oversaw a £20m overspend on Children’s Social Care which resulted in depleted reserves and Cllr John Pugh, the opposition Liberal Democrat leader, said the latest news was unsurprising.
In the report, a council officer says the £11.8m overspend includes a “number of significant assumptions and uncertainties that could impact on this position before the year-end” and that further work will continue to be undertaken to understand the pressures and refine forecasts.
