Issue - meetings

The Interim Director of Finance and Section 151 Officer presented the Quarter 3 2025/26 Finance Monitoring Report.

The report set out the key highlights for Quarter Three. Members were reminded that the Council had recently approved the 2026/27 budget, which had taken into account the pressures outlined within the report. The forecast position was noted to be within £19,000 of the position reported in the previous quarter.

The Interim Director of Finance and Section 151 Officer drew Members’ attention to capital expenditure. Capital spending stood at £6.776 million against an original budget of £8.082 million, which had been revised with carry forwards to £19.921 million.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance acknowledged the pressures identified within the Quarter Three report and advised that mitigations had been implemented. In particular, reference was made to pressures within the Housing Revenue Account relating to expenditure on fire doors, which represented a Health and Safety requirement. Earmarked reserves had been factored into the following year’s budget, and savings targets were reported to be close to being met. The Portfolio Holder also reminded Members that some ward budgets remained underspent.

Members commented on the following points:

• Members were asked to review any allocations made from ward budgets, and options for making donations to local charities were discussed.
• A Member queried whether capital spending should be included on the Corporate Risk Register. Officers clarified that this would depend upon the individual circumstances and status of particular projects. Reassurance was provided that the financial position had already been anticipated within the new budget and that additional resources had been identified to support capacity.

RESOLVED that:

1) There is a forecast revenue overspend position of £399k at Q3 be noted.

2) The current Capital spending of £6.776 million against an original budget of £8.082 million revised with carry forwards to £19.921 million be noted.

3) The current savings delivery is £1.751 million against an annual target of £2.342 million for 2025/26 be noted.

4) Forecast Earmarked Reserves at 31 March 2026 are £17.294 million be noted.

5) The Ward Budget allocation position to date is 21 approved allocations at £32,100, leaving a balance of £21,900 to be allocated before year end be noted.

6) There is an updated procurements position, with any new items over £200,000 to be included on the forward plan be noted.

7) The position on Council Tax and Business Rates be noted

8) The position on benefits processing be noted.

RECOMMENDED that:

9) That the Balance Sheet Monitoring Position for Q3 is noted – which is the Treasury Monitoring Report and required to be reported to Council.

10) The Medium-Term Financial Plan is amended to include the Pride in Place Fund Allocation which is confirmed as £19,660,000 (capital £12,470,000 and revenue £7,190,000) over 10 years and includes the current year’s capacity fund of £150,000, which has already been received.