SOCIAL services bosses are taking action as budget projections show them slipping into the red.

After six months, the department is on course to overspend by £1.5 million, up £200,000 from September's figure.

A project board and four working groups have been set up to keep costs under control.

Finance bosses have identified several "hot spots". These are: a projected overspend of £738,000 in children's agency placements, and £831,000 in community care; a drop of £217,000 in income from home care charges; a loss of £530,000 of "pay as you eat" income from residents in old folks homes; and £473,000 higher costs in services provided by the learning disability partnership board.

However, bosses expect this to be offset by: £400,000 savings from closing Claremont, Beech Grove and Warthfield residential homes; £478,000 from the Looked After Children pot; and further savings from staff vacancies in fieldwork, support services and the community drug and mental health teams.

Officers have flagged up a possible overspend of £200,000 in the education department, and £338,000 in the chief executive's department, two-thirds of this in legal and democratic services division.