A SCRUTINY review is to take place at Clackmannanshire Council as social services projected a revenue overspend of £1,894,000 for 2015/16.

The internal review will investigate the circumstances impacting on the service's budget. It is believed the projected overspend's majority of £1,676,000 is related to child services.

At a meeting of the Resources & Audit Committee on Thursday, elected members heard how there has been a “constant theme of overspend” in the past years at the service, but it is not clear how and where it has exactly been occurring.

According to Labour opposition leader councillor Bobby McGill, costs in the Wee County seem to be higher than other areas of equal deprivation and committee convener independent, and now suspended, councillor Archie Drummond told the chamber how in 2008/09, social services referrals doubled along with case conferences trebling.

He said he sought explanations, but was just simply told: “It's a Clackmannanshire thing”. He added the review will be a “significant piece of work” with a short timescale – the findings are to go before a full chamber at the end of the year with interim reports in the summer and autumn.

The review will give the council an opportunity to get a better understanding of the issues, which may be unique to the county.

The probe, which will be undertaken by the council's Resources & Audit Committee following a request by the Housing, Health & Care Committee, will be tightly focused, but it will need to consider the bigger picture – the social and economic environment in which the service operates.

It will look into, for instance, the number of children in the care system, child protection referrals and whether policies, processes and models of care offer best value for money.

Examining expenditure relating to children's residential schools, fostering and children's disability services, the review will explore specific causes of financial pressures to see how these could be mitigated.

The review will also carry out a detailed analysis of the cause and effect of variable factors impacting on the service as well as an analysis of the demographics of the looked-after child population that specifically affect service demands in the county.

The project team will be sponsored by the depute chief executive with a designated chief officer responsible for management and leadership. If required, a maximum budget of £10,000 has been allocated from existing resources for the project.