Agenda item

Report attached.

Members considered a report of Councillor Vanessa Alexander, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Council Operations, informing Cabinet of the draft financial spending of the Council up to the end of the financial year in March 2026.  Members were advised that a further report would be provided once all the work had been completed if there was any significant change to the position reported here.

Councillor Alexander provided a brief introduction to the report and highlighted the provisional underspend figure of £1.337m against an in-year working Budget of £17.401m. The underspend had been achieved, through good financial discipline and additional income generation.  The underspend would be transferred to reserves to alleviate pressures on the 2026/27 Budget and £150k would be made available to fund the survey for the Brookside project referred to at Agenda Item 14.  The closing balance level of reserves was robust, at some £25,093m.  The provisional outturn position was subject to external audit, but this provided a good platform for the on-going management of risk, future investment in the Borough and continuing stability of the Council’s finances.

The Leader noted the strong financial position and thanked the Portfolio Holder and officers for their hard work.  He noted that it might be possible to fund additional projects if finances remained strong.

Councillor Khan endorsed the Leader’s comments about strong financial management and thanked him for the continuing investment into the Brookside initiative.  He noted that income from garage rental and allotments was not reinvested directly into the development of those services and asked if other funding, such as s106 monies, could support them.  He also asked what the Council did to chase up non recoverable Housing Benefit claims.  Councillor Alexander undertook to look into question about funding for garages and allotments, but indicated that the services did not currently make a profit for the Council.  Regarding non-recoverable Housing Benefits, it was not possible to recover money from those who did not have it, nor did the Government reimburse the Council for those losses.  Checks were made to ensure that all claims were legitimate.  The reality was that there were significant pockets of deprivation in the Borough.  Councillor Melissa Fisher added that individuals who found themselves in difficult financial circumstances a should not be berated.

Approval of the report was not deemed a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

At the Full Council meeting on 27^th February 2025, Council had agreed the General Fund Revenue Budget for 2025/26.  This had set a budget for the Council’s total revenue spend in 2025/26 of £17.313m, however budget adjustments in year had resulted in a working budget of £17.401m.

The provisional revenue outturn position for the 2025/26 financial year was a total spend for the Council of £16.064m.  This gave a revenue underspend on net expenditure of (£1.337m) compared to the latest working budget.

Table 1: Actual Performance Against Budgets

A total net underspend of (£594k) had been reported to Cabinet on 21^st January 2026.  The provisional outturn showed an increase to the overall net underspend of (£743k), resulting in a total net underspend of (£1.337m), compared with the working budget.

A summary of the changes between the Quarter 3 forecast and the provisional outturn was shown in Table 2 below.  A more detailed breakdown could be seen at Appendix 1 of the report.

The Final Accounts were still being prepared and would be reviewed by External Auditors once completed.  Therefore, the reported underspend of (£1.337m) was provisional and might change.

Table 2: Movements in Forecast During the Quarter

Variance by Service

Section 4 of the report provided a breakdown of the provisional outturn variances by service area set out in additional tables (Nos 4 to 11), and included a supporting commentary.  It highlighted the key changes since Quarter 3 and compared the outturn position against the approved budget.

There were no alternative options for consideration or reasons.

Resolved                                 (1)   That Cabinet notes the provisional outturn position against the Revenue Budget for 2025/26 and the underspend in year of (£1.337m).

(2)   That Cabinet agrees to transfer the underspend of (£1.337m) into the Underspends Reserve, noting that £1m has been approved for use within 2026/27 to fund the additional February budget announcements at the 26^th February 2026 Council meeting.

(3)   That Cabinet approves the use of £150k to support and enhance the Brookside project to ensure vital environmental surveys are undertaken, including £50k soil surveys, £62k water surveys and £38k for contingency should any further investigations be required.

(4)   That future decisions on usage of any remaining funds to be approved by Chief Executive in conjunction with the Leader and members of the Cabinet.