Hillingdon Council is facing a significant £30.2 million overspend, primarily driven by increasing demand for social care services. Adult Social Care demand is contributing £8.2m to the overspend, while Children's Social Care accounts for £5.1m. The forecast was presented at the Corporate Resources & Infrastructure Select Committee meeting on Wednesday, 19 November 2025, where councillors reviewed the budget monitoring position as of August 2025 (Month 5).
To address the total gross pressure of £40.7m, which includes further pressures of £2.7m relating to pay inflation and £7.1m on cross-cutting savings no longer viewed as deliverable in-year, the full £10.5m contingency budget has been released, reducing the net overspend to £30.2m.
The overspend is attributed to demand pressures exceeding the budgeted amounts, particularly in adult and children's social care, and homelessness support. Shortfalls in achieving planned savings have also contributed to the financial strain.
Specifically, the £28.0 million overspend across service operating budgets is largely due to:
- £8.2 million in Adult Social Care demand
- £6.5 million in homelessness support
- £5.1 million in Children's Social Care
These pressures are partially offset by a £0.3 million reduction in the waste forecast.
The council's savings target for 2025/26 was initially set at £34.0 million, supplemented by an additional £4.8 million carried forward from the previous year, bringing the total savings target to £38.8 million. However, as of Month 5, only £18.8 million (49%) of the savings and interventions are confirmed as banked or on track
for delivery.
According to the Budget & Spending Report, a further £5.9 million (15%) is in progress but may not be fully realised this financial year. A significant £12.2 million (31%) faces challenges in delivery, with mitigations being sought in-year where feasible. Additionally, of the £1.9m in savings now considered undeliverable, £1.7m relate to the brought forward balance from the prior year while £0.2m of savings budgeted for delivery in 2025/26 can no longer be delivered and will be written out of the council's budget from 2026/27.
