Wimble’s Wobble: KCC Cabinet Member David Wimble Says “£52m” Adult Social Care Overspend — KCC’s Own Papers Say Otherwise

During a debate at Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Full Council meeting, Reform UK councillor David Wimble backed extra support for residents “down on their luck” — but in doing so he put a very specific number on Kent County Council’s financial woes.

“I know quite a lot now about county figures, cos we’re doing our budget at the moment,” he told the chamber, before adding: “52 million pound overspend on adult social services hasn’t helped us. We’ve had to find money.”

It was a neat, punchy line — and one that matters, because adult social care spending pressures at Kent County Council (KCC) help shape the county precept, which is the largest slice of most residents’ council tax bills.

But when you look at KCC’s published January 2026 papers, the headline figure is consistently lower than £52m.

What Kent County Council is actually reporting

KCC’s latest in-year monitoring report — the “Revenue and Capital Budget Forecast Outturn Report Quarter 3” — puts the projected overspend for the Adult Social Care & Health directorate at £49.7m.

That same figure appears in the table presented to KCC Cabinet today the 29 January 2026, showing Adult Social Care & Health with a working budget of £709.2m, a forecast of £758.9m, and a variance of £49.7m (7.0%).

In plain English, that “variance” is the gap between what KCC planned to spend and what it now expects to spend by year-end — a forecast overspend rather than a final audited outturn.

It’s not just one number — the overspend has a shape

The Cabinet table also breaks the £49.7m down inside the directorate. Adult Social Care (long-term support) accounts for £45.4m of the variance, with Adult Social Care (short-term support) at £5.1m.

And the Quarter 3 report explains what is driving the gap: of the £49.7m projected overspend, £20.9m relates to savings that are no longer expected to be achieved this year, leaving £28.8m attributed to “other service related pressures”.

So this is not simply a story of costs rising in the care market — it is also a story of planned savings that, on the council’s own forecast, are not materialising.

Where a “rounding up” might have come from

If a councillor is speaking from memory, or using a shorthand figure, it is easy to see how debate drifts towards rounder numbers.

KCC’s Quarter 2 monitoring report (from September 2025, still widely referenced in budget season) stated that the most significant overspend was in Adult Social Care & Health, totalling £50.9m (7.2%).

Meanwhile, a KCC Adult Social Care and Public Health Cabinet Committee paper (in the January 2026 pack) describes the adult social care overspend increasing “from £29m … to £50m forecast for 2025–26”.

That’s a long way from an official £52m figure — but it shows the public, documented numbers in circulation are £49.7m (Q3) and around £50m when rounded, with £50.9m sitting in the recent background as the Q2 position.

Why a few million matters in local debate

To many residents, £49.7m and £52m will sound like the same problem: a very big overspend in a service under pressure. But councils make decisions in the margins — and £2m-plus is not small change when authorities are weighing up council tax rises, savings plans, or whether support schemes for low-income households are “affordable”.

The KCC committee report also underlines how central adult social care is to the county’s finances: it says the adult social care budget has grown substantially and now represents a larger share of the council’s overall spending, with overspends having to be covered from reserves.

Against that backdrop, it is understandable that district councillors debating hardship support will point to county pressures as part of the wider picture. But it is also precisely why the numbers need to be pinned to what is actually published.

The takeaway

Cllr Wimble’s central argument — that councils should help people who are struggling, if they can afford to — was clear enough. The specific figure he cited was not.

On KCC’s own January 2026 paperwork, the adult social care overspend being reported is about £49.7m (and often discussed as “about £50m”), not a stated £52m.

The Shepway Vox Team

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