Immediate control measures have been brought in at Thanet council in the light of “a significant General Fund overspend of £2.907 million.”
The forecast spend comes on top of a £4.7 million drawdown on reserves last year and is mainly driven by costs for homelessness, temporary accommodation and housing benefit shortfalls.
Homelessness services are forecast to overspend by £710k. This is due to additional pressures on the service to place vulnerable homeless and rough sleepers in temporary accommodation (TA) as a result of the cost of living crisis.
Although the council has taken steps to reduce its overall temporary accommodation spend, including with the development of Foy House in Margate, the acquisition of Truro Road, Newington Road and Vistry units and the use of 41 Porchlight units within the district, this is a longer term solution.
Housing Benefit is expected to cause a £500k overspend. The council processes over £35m of Housing Benefit (HB) payments that in the main are funded by HB subsidy payments from central government.
But the amount of housing benefit subsidy that can be claimed for temporary accommodation is based on January 2011 Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates which results in a shortfall.
Other overspends
Other significant costs include a forecast £755k overspend on domestic waste and street cleaning staff due to increased agency spend in beach and street cleansing and high levels of sickness requiring agency cover across all departments.
A report to councillors said agency staffing is being scaled back, there are tighter controls on holiday allocations, a review of start and finish times and tighter sickness management.
Council finances have also been hit with a £70k expense for a public inquiry related to a planning appeal.
There is £86k overspend related to the ditching of the Ramsgate highway improvements scheme as part of the town’s regeneration projects.
The project, which was earmarked for £1.6m of the funding, was axed last month, meaning the costs can no longer be taken from government regeneration grant funds.
The expenses must now be paid from the council’s General Fund revenue although that Fund has benefited from approximately £1.6m in interest earned from the regeneration grant balances held since April 2021.
The axing of the Ramsgate Port scheme to reintroduce ferry services using Levelling Up funding from the government has also resulted in a £690,000 cost – used for designs and surveys – which must now be covered by the council’s general fund.
There is an additional £540k cost for repairs, statutory compliance work, and agency fees at the Port although port income exceeded targets by £166k due to money from greater aggregates activity, Border Force berthing and ad hoc Land Licences.
Spending controls
Immediate control measure include the forming of a Weekly Spending Panel with all purchase orders over £20,000 now being submitted to the panel for approval.
A review of existing vacant posts will be conducted and approval to recruit has been restricted to only posts that are essential
All Heads of Service will now be required to present their budget monitoring position directly to the Chief Executive on a monthly basis.
‘Serious financial picture’
At a Cabinet meeting, council leader Rick Everitt said the report presents “a very serious financial picture.”
He added: “It is important to understand that the pressure is not uniform or unique, it is driven primarily by systemic demand-led issues that are affecting councils across the country.”
Cllr Everitt said the temporary accommodation housing benefit being based on 2011 housing rates meant “we are currently using our local budget to effectively subsidise a national crisis. We will persist in challenging the government regarding the inadequacy of the current local housing allowance rates.”
He added: “ We are not waiting for the year end to act” and that “immediate and stringent spending controls” had been put in place.”
Cllr Everitt said the spending controls were not expected to impact on frontline services.
“£755k overspend on domestic waste and street cleaning staff”? Streets near me haven’t been swept in YEARS, and are treacherously slippery for the elderly and infirm.
A quick online search reveals that TDC spend over £6million per year on “Cultural and Related services”. What are these exactly?
Ditto that Peter! There are 84 houses in my road, and a great deal of their paper waste seems to end up in my front garden after the Bin men have been! Not seen a street cleaner here since forever! Slum Dog Britain, its on the way.
Don’t tell Ms. Rees!
I will contest the claim that this is “mainly driven by costs for homelessness, temporary accommodation and housing benefit shortfalls”
These add up to less than half of the current shortfall.
This is financial mismanagement of the highest level by the local Labour Party – even by TDC standards. They’ll be burning through over £7m of reserves in two years. Their scorched earth approach ahead of local government reorganisation is impressing no one.
It just reinforces the fact that the Labour Party shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the public finances – either locally or nationally. It always ends up like this. Always.
Very well said!
Doesn’t make good reading.
Looking forward to see who the defenders try to put the blame on.
Probably why they want Margate to have a town council so they can get more money out of us homeowners to plug this black hole
Anyone here do any better? I thought not.
All Councils are under the cosh as homelessness rises.The port is of course a disaster area,so there is no defending that,but the previous administration were just as bad.
Thanetian Blind will no doubt advocate continuity UKIP/ Make the Tory party great again, but their fantasy council budget has not yet seen the light of day.But if libraries and household waste sites start closing we will then see the cut of their jib.
Central govt did from 2010 cut support so that councils faced a cut of upwards of 50% in income, so it is no wonder that so many are in Carey street.I don’t think arts expenditure is the big issue, even if Mr Checksfield thinks it is.
Where I do agree is why is there so much expenditure on agency staff for cleansing? I think we need answers on that score.
What sort of answer is “Anyone here do any better”?
Should people only complain about a poor meal in a restaurant if they’re chefs?
Should people who bought my books only give a poor review if they’re fellow authors?
WE pay for TDC. So if we’re disatisfied, we have every right to complain.
As for “I don’t think arts expenditure is the big issue, even if Mr Checksfield thinks it is”, I never said it is or it isn’t. That’s why I’d like a fuller break-down of what exactly this expenditure means.
Do a FOI
Maybe. I’ve asked some TDC cllrs to clarify first.
Nonsensical position to take. The current Labour Cabinet stood for office because they thought they could improve the area. They got elected on that basis so it’s only right that we (as the local taxpayers) can hold them to account and challenge them when they prove they cannot manage the Council’s finances with any degree of competency. If it would have been a different colour of political party in control and failing so badly I would also be holding them to account. They overspent by £4.5m last year which didn’t get much media coverage but they obviously haven’t learnt any lessons for this year.
At the current rate of burning through reserves, I’m not even sure TDC will still be solvent when the new Unitary Council comes into existence. I feel desperately sorry for whoever has to inherit the mess, the debts, the unfinished projects and try and make a success of it.
The impending unitary authority gives councils a get out of jail free card , they can spend pretty much as they wish, deplete reserves and run up liabilities , then walk away, there’s no real incentive to be prudent.
As for the local housing allowance rated, introduced in 2010 at absurdly generous rate, reduced in 2011. The article suggests it’s been frozen since 2011 , so effectively a result of tory policy, but seems odd that labour have’nt uprated the allowance since coming to power.
Does anyone know the reasoning?
I can only assume they are thinking of yet more ways to raise taxes on working people who don’t claim benefits to pay for the additional handouts.
Don’t forget the 250k to clear the pile of waste that vastly exceeded the councils permitted storage of green waste from parks etc.
Has it been explained how it grew to this? Who was the manager in charge? Where was the senior oversight?
Then in the rush to clear the waste it was conveniently done via mears ( hardly well known locally for waste management. Why wasknt it put out to tender?
The port has been an never ending farce, has there ever been a figure released for the road haulage costs tdc incurred whilst the loading berth was inoperable?
The commercial property departments, failures to keep the councils property upto legally required standards , along with no rent reviews, how much has that/will cost?
Too much is done by external consultants then rubber stamped by council staff either unable or unwilling to question what comes before them.
I have a council leasehold property, the invoices the council settle are absurd and reports riddled with errors, but seemingly the council never picks them up. That’s before you question works commissioned but never inspected after.
Then you have the many staff working from home with little or no oversight or management. So many errors and managers all to happy to cover them up in order to hide the lack of effective management. Going to be really interesting when it comes to training new staff properly.
The staffing levels on cleansing are low hence during the Summer season they use agency staff hence why some toilets are shut during the winter sadly
Government funding was reduced under the Tories by 60% Mr. Noakes, that makes a huge difference. But despite that huge reduction for TDC the tribal politics was rampant and still continues to this day.
It’s ok it’s just to get the ball rolling to increase your council tax next year
100% guaranteed.
Unless of course you’re out of work and on benefits as they are bringing in new rules that you get the whole of your Council Tax paid rather than having to contribute some.
That’s courtesy of the local Welfare Party.
And the tv licence will be free to those on benefits, at this rate we will all be on benefits. Question, should people work for their benefits, parks and gardens are a disgrace, the streets need cleaning, and the toilets should be opened and cleaned. Plenty for people to earn their benefits.
What a shocker. It’s hardly a surprise seing how they’ve totally mishandled all of the leveling up money with nothing to show for it. Honestly the inefficiencies, burocracy and incompetence of the council would never survive in the private sector.
Given my own experience owning a listed building I now do everything I can to avoid the council. The irony being that means some renovation work is left undone as I dread every interaction with the planning department.
That’s because you’re just one of lifes normal folk and as such easy to push around.
Have a look at the way Northdown house , The Old British Legion, Tracey Emmins ( just a few examples) properties have been dealt with. Work is substantially completed then a retrospective application put in that’s waived through. The councils own listed buildings are hardly maintained to the standards expected. Yet private owners are seemingly seen to be free of the financial strictures that affect the council.
Listed building legislation was written in a different era , in which in return for accepting the rules property owners had a degree of support from councils and the taxpayer ( vat exemptions). But now it’s become ver one sided , councils ( in general not just tdc) conjuring up the preapplication advice route, so that they can charge for the service they’d previously been obligated to provide for free.
In addition some of those duties are discretionary and so the way legislation is applied becomes evermore variable. Unfortunately it’s not an area of sufficient importance ,to make the time and resources needed to rewrite the legislation , for it to be dealt with.
All a mess, and navigating the system is perilous ( unless of coure you’re one of the “favoured”)
Actually George, many of us wrote to Rick asking why so much of the LUF was being siphoned to the dead duck ferry dream. Onwards they ploughed. Wasting precious LUF funds and further costs due to overall failure costs now being met centrally. Similarly, many of us have been asking for years where the High St spend was and why were we simply not getting on with it.
This overspend is incompetence and poor judgement in my view. What we’re now being told is that failure to spend the High St and LUF millions has cost the Thanet community even more money.
Shocking stuff. Who is responsible for these outcomes if not the cabinet?
What this situation exposes is a fundamental failure of leadership at Cabinet level. Regeneration sits squarely within the portfolios of Ruth Duckworth and Rick, and responsibility cannot continue to be deflected elsewhere. This is a Cabinet that appears unable to lead, unable to interrogate officer recommendations, and lacking the real-world experience needed to scrutinise complex regeneration projects properly.
The Walpole Bay decision approved last night is a case in point. Public anger around this scheme did not emerge overnight; it has been clear for months. Yet we have seen a combination of poor officer advice, a complete absence of meaningful community engagement, and a staggering lack of foresight. Even more concerning is the failure to properly account for the significant overspend on the Ramsgate port and highways an overspend that will now fall on the general council budget and inevitably impact other vital services.
This is not just a planning failure; it is a governance failure. The retraction and mitigation being offered now feels tokenistic and inadequate, and it does nothing to restore confidence. At some point accountability must mean something. The scale of incompetence demonstrated here raises serious questions about leadership within the department led by Bob Porter, should be considering their position.
Residents expect better than this. They expect transparency, competence, and decisions rooted in evidence and engagement, not projects pushed through in the face of widespread concern and poor financial discipline.
Complaining is what you do best.
I agree that TDC is like a failed gambler and persists in chucking good money after bad, but they have done it for 50 years, so this administration is no worse than it’s predecessors.
Let’s face it,if TDC were handing out free gold bars to the community you would still moan, and not vote for them,so you are a lost cause anyway.
As for benefits, find them work.If you were all the patriots you claim to be, you would not be hoarding your money in cash visas, but investing some of your capital in British industry,like we used to do, before we found out that sitting on our arses on a bit of land gave a higher return.Before you say it, I have put my money where my mouth is
So have i, but it won’t provide jobs for the vast majority of the benefit dependent, they just don’t want to work.
Education is no longer held in any esteem by too many, instead getting as much as possible for as little as possible is the aim.
Yes no doubt there are those adept at keeping their tax bills to a minimum, but at least they pay something into the system rather than purely taking.
There’s no issue with supporting the truly needy but its all gone too far and has become entrenched between generations.
Agreed TDC has been governed for far too long by too many whose personal hobby horse has made them agree to absurd policies in exchange for the opportunity to pursue their own dreams.
Such trade offs led to the ruinous campaign against live animal exports. Personal beliefs aside that should never have been sanctioned by a local council, they were never going to prevail. It was always a decision for central gov.
The sizeable sums being borrowed for “emergency housing “ being a prime example, it’s akin to saying buying a porsche on finance to save on the £5 taxi fare to the station for the main commute is sensible. But conveniently overlooks the the bigger picture. That “emergency housing” is no more than expensive to the council tax payer social housing . I’d guess that tdc assume the LHA rates would increase and so make the calculations far more believable.
A multiple times failed airfield at Manston is one of the glaring errors.
Complete lack of business nous shown by TDC to even discuss a CPO years ago. It’s failed already and has not even started yet, the best thing to generate prosperity on that site, is multiple different use as shown highly successfully at other former failed airfield.
WHATS THE ANSWER AND WHY? – I thought MS Whitehead responded to me that all extra housing spending was costed etc etc ec to have no financial implications for the future? I knew this was utter rubbish and as always Labour both local and National will leave behind massive debts. History ahows nothing changes when they are given power. Unfortunately I have paid my way in life and not on benefits gravy train! How highly paid management team of TDC have allowed these gross everspenda to occur is unbelievable. I bet no one is sacked or falls on their swords for their questionable management abilities!
Facebook, 18 hours ago:
Peter Checksfield
“£755k overspend on domestic waste and street cleaning staff”? Streets near me haven’t been swept in YEARS, and are treacherously slippery for the elderly and infirm.A quick online search reveals that TDC spend over £6million per year on “Cultural and Related services”. What are these exactly?
Helen Elizabeth Whitehead
Peter Checksfield; do you want to provide a link to the “quick online search”?
Peter Checksfield
Helen Elizabeth Whitehead Sure: https://www.thanet.gov.uk/info-pages/cost-of-council-services/
(Ms. Whitehead’s gone conspicuously quiet since then)
Peter – this individual along with Clr Bright character will now keep under the radar until things calm down – they will realise sooner or later that their days are numbered as elections draw ever closer. People will not forget their incompetence
Peter – this individual along with Clr Bright character will now keep under the radar until things calm down – they will realise sooner or later that their days are numbered as elections draw ever closer. People will not forget their incompetence and lies o& Labour party
Peter – this individual along with Clr Bright character will now keep under the radar until things calm down – they will realise sooner or later that their days are numbered as elections draw ever closer. People will not forget their incompetence and lies o& Labour party
I’m not surprised. Most people get the same condescending tone from her when she disagrees with what they are saying. Seems to pore through Facebook threads selectively replying to certain points whilst completely ignoring others which she can’t challenge.
I’ve had three Cllrs defending their allowances (hello, Helen, Kristian and Jenny!), yet none will/can explain the over £6million per year on “Cultural and Related services”. I can only assume that they don’t know.
Of course there is an overspend, absolutely zero cohesion, planning or competence at TDC at any level, they sell property at a snip, then want to buy it back at a much inflated value, they do not take care of business in Ramsgate in any way, as they say they can’t afford to make the parking at the multi storey car park free for a weekend on the approach to Christmas, of course they can’t as they need that money to cover for their bad choices, so everyone else suffers. Thanet district Council is littered with incompetence and under table deals for over 30 years, they are the biggest disgrace in this country as a local authority.
They have not backed industry at the working part of Ramsgate port, but want to go down the rabbit hole of leasing the land to an uncertain non investment route of the land, tell me Thanet council is not completely clueless and corrupt, as this stinks. There is far more viable tax revenues, employment, and sustainability from the port, than there ever was or ever will be from a multiple times failed airfield. No vision.
Yet it was vital that the councillors debated “Sanctuary City” status, when they and the officers already knew the position?
So many of the projects embraced by The Council are bottomless revenue pits. “Homelessness” has existed forever. Allocating monies on the basis of underdog status will only impoverish all of us.
“Sanctuary City” is a dead concept after what happened at Swale Council. This Cabinet would be barking mad to bring it back to the chamber. Let’s have less virtue signalling from our Councillors debating things like this and the Gaza conflict and more focus on sorting the area’s many problems out.
They debate things that they have absolutely no influence over as a distraction from their persistent incompetence. They’ll never debate local issues such as immigration or obesity rates though, as they’re a bit too close to home.
Everitt is an arrogant clown who seeks to defend the indefensible.
A reported overspend of almost £3m inside 8 months – about £350k per month – should have been a red flag. This is evidence of crass management and complete failure of oversight by top management and the politicians.
Last year should have been a warning, pressures this year would have been well known at budget setting, and as for the new controls:
Senior sign off of purchases of more than £20k, recruitment only where essential and monthly budget reporting.
Really?
What was is place before?
An appalling lack of control and accountability.
There are ingrained cultural and behavioural issues at TDC, underpinned by a “we know best” attitude, that need to be rooted out but there is no one there with the guts, the nous or the incentive to change anything.
As for reorganisation, it will be a game of musical chairs and east Kent is not a magnet for talent, ambition or high flyers, so do not expect much change.
Convenient this is slipped out just before Christmas….
My 91 year old grandmother could do a better job.
No problem-Polly says they are getting millions more in an uplift. I am sure these will be used sensibly & to wipe out the debt & not wasted on so called art hubs, rainbow stuff, history of black hair lectures, spraying graffiti on more buildings like the seafront/Arlington & employing bouncers to do what the police, town wardens, PCSO’s & shop security are already being paid for.