Issue - meetings

A report that provides details of the budget reduction requirement and the Administration’s budget proposals for 2025/26 and a forecast of the 2026/27 position having regard to the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement (PLGFS). The report also presents the financial forecasts for the remainder of the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) period 2026/27 to 2029/30.

The Cabinet considered a report of the Assistant Director of Finance that provided members with the budget reduction requirement, the Administration’s budget proposals for 2025/26, a forecast of the 2026/27 position having regard to the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement (PLGFS) published on 18^th December 2024 and the subsequent Final Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) published on 3^rd February 2025. The report also presented the financial forecasts for the remainder of the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) period 2026/27 to 2029/30.

The submitted report presented the Council’s Revenue Budget for 2025/26 together with the budget reduction requirement and the Administration’s budget proposals for 2025/26 including Council Tax intentions. It also provided a forecast of the 2026/27 position and the financial forecasts for the remainder of the MTFS period, 2027/28 to 2029/30.

A version of the Revenue Budget 2025/26 and 2026/27 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2025/26 to 2029/30 - based on the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement (PLGFS) received on 18^th December 2024, had been presented to the Governance, Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Board on 29^th January 2025. The Board scrutinised the report and the other reports on the agenda which formed a core part of the Council’s strategic financial planning framework and recommended them to Cabinet.

Section 1 presented an introduction to the report and explains the report format.

Section 2 sets out key Council Policies and Strategies including the Co-operative Council Values, Corporate Plan, Constitution and Rules of Procedure, as the framework within which the Budget has been prepared.

Section 3 presented the Local Government Finance Policy Statement which sets out the Government’s intentions to assist financial planning for Councils. It also details the impacts of the 2025/26 Provisional and Final LGFS which was the seventh consecutive one-year Settlement. This included key information in relation to overall funding levels, Council Tax referendum limits and grants for 2025/26.

Section 4 presented the 2024/25 revised budget and year end forecasts. The starting point for preparing the 2025/26 revenue budget estimates was the underlying base budget of £289.1m. The 2024/25 revenue budget forecast outturn position highlighted a current unfavourable projected variance of £14.2m; which will need to be financed from reserves. This was in addition to the general contribution from reserves of £10.8m towards the 2024/25 budget approved by Council in February 2024, plus contributions from other Earmarked Reserves for specific projects/initiatives of some £4.6m. This meant that the total contribution from reserves in 2024/25 would be £29.5m: a situation that was not sustainable and which had significantly reduced the financial resilience of the Council.

Section 5 summarised the proposed budget for 2025/26 and provided the context for the strategy adopted. It provided a budget forecast whereby £1.05m could be used to replenish reserves (a more detailed breakdown of the indicative budget for 2025/26 can be found at Appendix 7. To the report).

Section 6 presented a range of expenditure pressures that would contribute to the budget gap. In total they contributed £41.2m to the 2025/26 position, an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9