A PARTNERSHIP which took over responsibility for health and social care in Clackmannanshire and wider area looks to have overspent by £1.1million locally.

The figure will be tabled at a meeting of Clackmannanshire Council’s Partnership and Performance Committee next Tuesday.

It relates to the 2018-19 budget of the Clackmannanshire and Stirling Health and Social Care Partnership, led by the Integration Joint Board (IJB), and is a forecast for the financial year that ended on March 31.

The projected overspend is within the Wee County arm of the partnership, according to council papers, and the chamber at Kilncraigs last month heard how the demand-led service required additional funding of £2.627million overall.

That equated to a 16 per cent growth in the budget, leading to an in-year deficit.

As reported a few weeks ago, a permanent chief officer has been appointed to take charge in June, following the resignation of Shiona Strachan at the end of last year.

When Clackmannanshire Council approved its most recent budget for the year ahead, the administration took the decision not to bail the partnership out with extra money in light of pressures on its own budget and “the absence of any specific savings proposals for the partnership”.

Some £635,000 was then set aside, should a dispute arise and should the local authority be forced to pay out.

SNP Councillor Les Sharp then warned the IJB to “stop spending money as if it’s coming out of the fountain”.

The pressure on the partnership is set to mount as well with an ageing population projected in the area – for instance council documents will next week highlight how the number of care home residents in the area has risen.