Borders social work department faces ‘major challenge’

Borders council’s social work department is battling to make savings of £800,000 this year, while facing £1.8million of service costs due to a rise in demand.
According to the council’s chief financial officer, David Robertson, the department still has to make £420,000 of savings by the end of March next year.

Councillors were told on Tuesday that the department had been hit with £1.8million of ‘additional pressures’ this year – ­attributed to the costs of increased demand, including transporting and accommodating children and home care.

Mr Robertson said a ‘recovery plan’ had been developed with actions set out to tackle the various issues and make the necessary savings.

Mr Robertson added: “These include a freeze on all non-critical recruitment, setting efficiency targets for all managers to reduce spend through review of care packages and operational costs, and to agree a more equitable and transparent protocol for the joint funding of complex cases with NHS Borders.”

However, he added that delivery of the savings would be a ‘major challenge’.

The council’s executive agreed to keep a close eye on the department’s performance, but were sympathetic to the challenges faced.