Published 25/09/2026 By William Turtle-Clark

Herefordshire Council leadership has pledged to protect essential services despite facing a projected eleven point six million pound budget overspend in the current financial year.

A report presented to a meeting of the council’s cabinet highlighted significant financial challenges, particularly within adult social care. The Community Wellbeing directorate alone is forecast to overshoot its budget by nearly five million pounds, driven partly by a reliance on agency staff to fulfil statutory duties under the Care Act.

Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Pete Stoddart, outlined the primary pressures impacting the local authority’s revenue spending. He said: "Dipping into the council’s cash reserves is neither sufficient nor sustainable to address the scale of the forecast pressure, making early intervention and robust financial management absolutely essential."

He identified temporary accommodation, special educational needs provision, and home-to-school transport as additional factors driving the deficit.

Addressing the financial pressure on social care, Council Leader Councillor Jonathan Lester emphasized that work is underway to control expenditure, including expanding care technology to support residents in their homes. He reassured the public that essential support would be maintained.

He said: "A huge amount of work is going on in adult social care to address costs. We’re not in the business of reducing services for people who really need them."

He added that adapting the John Venn Building in Hereford to provide council-managed temporary accommodation would "dramatically reduce costs" once operational.

Cabinet Member for Transport, Councillor Philip Price, noted that internal route optimization and self-provision of school transport would help reduce reliance on external taxis. He also suggested that rationalizing council-owned property could yield further savings. He said: "Residents can’t believe that we spend sixteen million pounds on moving children around. Every time we have to do something big to a building that we own, it always costs us more money than we ever anticipate. Reducing that property estate is a major way of cutting that cost."

The suggestion prompted questions from opposition representatives during the cabinet session. Green Group Leader, Councillor Stef Simmons, raised concerns regarding potential property disposals.

She said: "This continues the Tory track record of having sold off our farms and farmland. What assets are now being considered for sale?"

Council leaders did not confirm specific details regarding potential asset sales before the meeting concluded.