Purpose

This report provides the
Council’s financial performance as at Period 3 (June 2025)
for the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and the Capital
Programme.  It also requests the
Executive Mayor and Cabinet to approve changes to the 2025-26
capital programme.
 

Content

For the reasons set out in the
report, the Executive Mayor and Cabinet AGREED:
 
2.1 to note the General Fund
revenue budget outturn is forecast at Period 3 to underspend at
financial year end by £21.8m, contributing to the target as
required by the Stabilisation Plan. This would reduce the necessary
level of capitalisation directions from £136m to
£114.2m.
 
2.2 to note that service
directorates have been asked to reduce their net expenditure below
their budgets so that the annual budget can be balanced with
reduced use of capitalisation directions, including achievement of
the £27.3m Stabilisation Plan target as set out from
paragraph 5.18. It should not be underestimated what a challenge
this will be against the background of increased demand pressures
which are continuing to build across local government as well as
increased market prices.
 
2.3 to note the unfunded local
government cost pressures that exist nationally, regionally and
locally relating to increases in demand and market prices which
need to be addressed by Government changes to policy and/or funding
levels.
 
2.4 to note that two months of
Financial Performance Reports are being removed from the Cabinet
reporting cycle from 2025-26 onwards (being the removal of the
Period 4 and Period 7 reports). The reason is to prioritise service
and finance officer time on more value-added activities,
strengthening the ability for more tactical and strategic work on
financial areas, as set out from paragraph 5.10.
 
2.5 to note the progress in
Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) savings achievement of
£21.3m (84.9%) against the total savings target of
£25.1m as set out in paragraph 5.114.
 
2.6 to note the Housing Revenue
Account (HRA) revenue budget forecast outturn is a breakeven
position.
 
2.7 to approve the various
General Fund capital additions, virements and re-profiling across
years as set out in paragraph 5.142 (and detailed in the table
following paragraph 5.143), which in total comprise a net budget
decrease to the 2025-26 General Fund capital programme of
£6.035m.
 
2.8 to note the General Fund
capital programme 2025-26 forecast underspend of £27.3m
(9.9%) against the revised budget (including the net decrease to be
agreed through this report) of £275.9m. The expected decrease
in capitalisation direction usage owing to the Stabilisation Plan
accounts for this £27.3m forecast underspend, however, only
£22.4m of this has been evidenced to date at Period
3.
 
2.9 to note the HRA capital
programme 2025-26 forecast breakeven position against the capital
budget of £120.5m.
 
2.10 to note the
Council’s historic borrowing and subsequent debt burden and
national, regional and local service pressures continue to be
critical to the non sustainability of
the Council’s revenue budget as set out from para
5.134.
 
2.11 to note that the Council
continues to operate Spend Control Panels, and tightened the
criteria from July 2024, to ensure that stringent financial control
and assurance oversight are maintained.
 
2.12 to note that current
forecasts are based on the best available information at the time
and will be subject to review and change during the financial
year.