Sutton Council's People Directorate is grappling with significant financial pressures, accounting for two-thirds of the council's overall budget. Adult Social Care alone represents 37.4% of this total, underscoring the substantial challenges the borough faces.

These financial strains were a central focus at the People Committee meeting on Thursday, June 18, 2026. The committee, which serves as the council's statutory education and social services committee with primary responsibility for Adult Social Care, Children's Social Care, and Education Services, received a comprehensive overview of the directorate's role, responsibilities, and financial outlook. Nick Ireland, Strategic Director of People Services, and Jonathan Williams, Director of Children's Services, presented the report, highlighting the committee's statutory duties to oversee these critical areas, scrutinise delivery, challenge strategies, and make key decisions.

The report detailed the People Directorate's budget for 2026/27, including £83.2 million allocated to Adult Social Care, £41.5 million for Children's Social Care, and £12.2 million for Education (excluding the Dedicated Schools Grant). The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) itself is valued at £156.9 million for FY2026/27, but is projected to be insufficient due to current expenditure trends.

Addressing Adult Social Care Pressures

To combat the significant financial pressures within Adult Social Care, Sutton Council is implementing a three-year strategic savings plan. This plan prioritises strength-based support and maximising resident independence. Key initiatives include a revised departmental structure featuring a centralised Occupational Therapy Hub designed to reduce waiting times and prevent the escalation of needs. Furthermore, the council is enhancing access to information and advice through digital solutions and introducing a new Waiting Well approach for care assessments. A new Technology Enabled Care (TEC) model is also being rolled out to support independent living and proactively address potential crises. The council is also actively responding to areas for development identified by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) during its Adult Social Care inspections. In addition to these strategic shifts, 12 Pilot Prevention Programmes valued at £386,014 are underway, supporting residents in diverse areas such as fall reduction, assistance for housebound individuals, support for young people with learning disabilities and mental health issues, carer support, and aid for those at risk of homelessness.

Impact of Regulatory Burdens

Compounding these financial challenges are significant regulatory burdens. The CQC's new frameworks for Adult Social Care, while offering welcome external validation of service quality, are proving resource-intensive. The new assessment framework introduces a higher level of regulation, encompassing CQC Local Authority Assurance Meetings and Comprehensive Assessments. These require a considerable amount of information and data and involve a five day on site inspection visit, placing an additional burden on the Adult Social Care department and the Council as a whole. The report notes that additional resources required have been considerable, with no additional Government funding has been provided to support this apart from a small one off grant. This pressure is further amplified by additional regulatory burdens such as the change in the performance framework for Adult Social Care to Client Level Data (CLD) reporting in 2025, requiring significant additional capacity and resources without any additional funding to support these requirements.

SEND Reforms and Budgetary Strain

The council is also grappling with the implications of national reforms in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) services, which are placing considerable strain on budgets. The primary drivers behind this strain include increasing demand for educational health and care plans, a reduction in mainstream schools' capacity to support SEND, and misaligned incentive and accountability structures. Nationally, councils face an projected £14 billion gap by 2028 if current trends persist. Sutton's SEND Reform Plan aims to address this by rebuilding mainstream capacity with a £1.6 billion mainstream inclusion fund (though the report notes this equates to modest sums per school), introducing national standards for inclusion, strengthening accountability, and developing Individual Support Plans as potential replacements for EHCPs for less complex cases. The council's strategy involves strengthening joint leadership, governance and system accountability and building on inclusive practice in schools, settings and in the community. Sutton has received £1.8 million in Experts at Hand funding to recruit professionals for mainstream schools to support this initiative. The plan also seeks to create local high quality and cost-effective provision to reduce reliance on out-of-borough placements and transport.

The current accumulated deficit for SEND services stands at over £20 million, with an in-year deficit of approximately £11 million for the Dedicated Schools Grant. If current trends continue, the national gap between local authority spending on SEND and government grant is projected to grow significantly. The current 'statutory override' that shields the council's balance sheet from DSG overspends is set to end in March 2028. While the government has announced a High Needs Stability Grant to cover 90% of deficits as at the end of 2025/26, future years' support remains unconfirmed, posing a material risk. From 2028/29, SEND spending is expected to be managed nationally by the Department for Education, which should alleviate the DSG overspend risk from the Council's general fund.

Further details on these financial matters can be found in the Public reports pack for the People Committee meeting on 18th June 2026.