Purpose

To set the 2025/26 Council Tax
Rate and the 2026/27 General Fund Revenue Budget
 
Initial date added to Forward
Plan: 11 April 2025

Content

On a recorded vote there being: For
(7): Cllr Caroline Woodley, Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Cllr Guy Nicholson,
Cllr Robert Chapman, Cllr Susan Fajana-Thomas OBE,
Cllr Christopher Kennedy and Cllr Sarah Young.
 
Abstentions (0)
 
Not present in the Chamber (2): Cllr
Sade Etti and Cllr Carole Williams,
 
The resolution was declared CARRIED
 
RESOLVED:
 
3.1  Cabinet is
recommended to consider the report and make the following
recommendations to Council for approval:
 
3.2  Council is
recommended:
 
3.2.1  The report provided approval for the Council
to bring forward into 2026/27 the Council’s projected 2025/26
General Fund balance of £19.0m with the aim of increasing
this to £22m - £24m over the medium-term period noting
the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) projected 2025/26 balance of
£13.5m with the aim of increasing to £16.8m by the end
of March 2027
 
3.2.2  The directorate estimates and estimates for
the General Finance Account items set out in Table 2 in Section 12
of this report, were noted and endorsed.
 
3.2.3  The budget being a financial exposition of
the priorities set out within the Strategic Plan summarised at
Section 6 below, were noted.
 
3.2.4  It was noted that in line with the
requirements of the Local Government Act 2003, the Group Director
Finance and Corporate Resources, was of the view that:
 
The General Fund balances which
currently stand at £19.0m and the level of other reserves are
adequate to meet the Council’s financial needs for 2026/27
and that considering the economic uncertainty they should not fall
below this level and that the aim is to increase these to
£22m - £24m over the medium term.
 
This view takes account of the
reserves included in the Council’s latest published 2024/25
Accounts and the movements of those reserves since that date
– which have been tracked through the Overall Financial
Position (OFP) Reports, and the latest OFP projections. Note also,
that the projections in the HRA Budget to increase the balance to
£16.8m by 31 March 2027. The HRA Business Plan sets out how
the reserve levels will be built up over the next two financial
years with the aim to be at 10% by the end of 2027/28.
 
The General Fund estimates are
sufficiently robust to set a balanced budget for 2026/27. This
takes into account the adequacy of the level of balances and
reserves outlined above and the assurance gained from the
comparisons of the 2025/26 budget with the projected spend
identified in the December 2025 OFP. The overall level of the
corporate contingency has been set at £2m.
 
3.2.5  The proposed General Fund fees and charges
as set out in Appendix 7a & Appendix 7b (exempt) for
implementation from 1 April 2026 were approved.
 
3.2.6  Confirmation that the Mayor, Cabinet and the
Corporate Leadership Team would act to deliver the approved savings
plans and develop robust savings plans to close the revised Medium
Term Financial Plan budget gaps set out in Appendix 5 and deliver a
year on year balanced position, taking into account the
recommendation of the S151 Officer as set out in the Section 25
Statement (Appendix 12). Consideration given to building in
increases to our revenue reserves to improve the financial
resilience of the Council in the medium term. 
 
3.2.7  The summary of the HRA Budget and Rent
setting report proposed to Cabinet on 26 January 2026, was
noted.
 
3.2.8  Authority was delegated to the Group
Director of Finance and Corporate Resources to implement any
virements required to allocate
provision for demand and growth pressures set out in this report
subject to the appropriate evidence base being provided.
 
3.2.9  The allocation of resources to the 2026/27
capital programme referred to in Section 20 and Appendix 6, were
approved.
 
3.2.10 Approval for the Flexible Use
of Capital Receipts Strategy for 2026/27 (Appendix 10) was noted
and agreed, with a maximum expenditure limit of £19.3m
(2026/27), recognising that this approval does not constitute a
commitment to utilise the strategy (paragraph 20.5 and Appendix
10).
 
3.2.11 Authority was delegated to the
Section 151 Officer to authorise the implementation of the Flexible
Use of Capital Receipts Strategy at the conclusion of the financial
year, contingent upon a comprehensive assessment of the Council's
overall financial position (paragraph 20.5 and Appendix 10).
 
3.2.12 The prudential indicators for
Capital Expenditure:- the Capital Financing Requirement; the
Authorised Limit and Operational Boundary for External Debt; the
Affordability Prudential Indicators; and the Treasury Management
Prudential Indicators for 2026/27 as set out in Section 21 and
Appendix 3, were noted and agreed.
 
3.2.13 Approval granted that the
authorised limit for external debt of £1,241m agreed above
for 2026/27 will be the statutory limit determined under section
3(1) of the Local Government Act 2003. Further reassurance about
the robustness of the budget is the confirmation that the
Council’s borrowings are within the boundaries of prudential
guidelines.
 
3.2.14 It was acknowledged that at
its meeting on 28 January 2026 the Cabinet agreed its Council Tax
Base for the 2026/27 financial year as 80,163.35 in accordance with
regulations made under section 33(5) of the Local Government
Finance Act 1992. The Council Tax Base is the total number of
properties in each of the eight council tax bands A to H converted
to an equivalent number of band D properties.
 
3.2.15 The Cabinet approved the following
amounts to be now calculated for
the year 2026/27 in accordance with
Sections 31A to 36 of the Localism Act 2011.
 
The authority calculates the
aggregate of: (in accordance with Section 31A (2) of the Act).
 
(a)  £1,371.155m
being the expenditure which the authority estimates it will incur
in the year in performing its functions and will charge to a
revenue account, other than a Business Improvement District (BID)
Revenue Account, for the year in accordance with proper
practices.
 
(b)  £2m being such
allowance as the authority estimates will be appropriate for
contingencies in relation to amounts to be charged or credited to a
revenue account for the year in accordance with proper
practices.
 
(c)  £nil
being the financial reserves which the authority estimates it will
be appropriate to raise in the year for meeting its estimated
future expenditure.
 
(d)  £nil being
such financial reserves as are sufficient to meet so much of the
amount estimated by the authority to be a revenue account deficit
for any earlier financial year as has not already been provided
for.
 
(e)  £nil being the
amount which it estimates will be transferred in the year from its
general fund to its collection fund in accordance with section
97(4) of the 1988 Act, and
 
(f)  £nil
being the amount which it estimates will be transferred from its
general fund to its collection fund pursuant to a direction under
section 98(5) of the 1988 Act and charged to a revenue account for
the year.
 
3.2.16 The authority calculates the
aggregate of: (in accordance with Section
31A (3) of the Act)
 
(a)  £1,245.957m
being the income which it estimates will accrue to it in the year
and which it will credit to a revenue account, other than a
Business Improvement District (BID) Revenue Account, for the year
in accordance with proper practices.
 
(b)  £2.962m being
the amount which it estimates will be transferred in the year from
its collection fund to its general fund in accordance with section
97(3) of the 1988 Act.
 
(c)  £nil
being the amount which it estimates will be transferred from its
collection fund to its general fund pursuant to a direction under
section 98(4) of the 1988 Act and will be credited to a revenue
account for the year, and
 
(d)  £nil being the
amount of the financial reserves which the authority estimates it
will use in order to provide for the items mentioned in subsection
(2) (a), (b), (e) and (f) above.
 
3.2.17 £124.236m being the
amount by which the aggregate calculated under
subsection (1) above exceeds that
calculated under subsection (2)
above, the authority calculates the
amount equal to the difference; and
the amount so calculated is its
Council Tax Requirement for the year.
 
3.2.18 £124.236m being the
amount at (3.2.17) divided by the amount (3.2.14)
above, calculated by the Council, in
accordance with section 31A of the
Act, £1,549.79 as the basic
amount of its council tax for the year.
 
3.2.19 That the Council in accordance
with Sections 30 and 36 of the Local
Government Finance Act 1992, hereby
sets the aggregate amounts
shown in the tables below as the
amounts of Council tax for 2026/27 for
each part of its area and for each of
the categories of dwellings.
 
Valuation Bands
Hackney
 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

£1,033.19

£1,205.39

£1,377.59

£1,549.79

£1,894.19

£2,238.59

£2,582.98

£3,099.58

 
 
3.2.20 It was noted that for 2026/27
the Greater London Authority has stated
the following amounts in precepts
issued to the Council, in accordance
with Section 40 of the Local
Government Finance Act 1992, for each of
the categories of dwellings shown
below. These precepts are subject to
the approval of the GLA Assembly at
their meeting scheduled for 26
February.
 
Valuation Bands
GLA
 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

£340.34

£397.06

£453.79

£510.51

£623.96

£737.40

£850.85

£1,021.02

 
 
3.2.21 That having calculated the
aggregate in each case of the amounts at
3.2.19 and 3.2.20 above, the Council,
in accordance with Section 30(2)
of the Local Government Finance Act
1992, hereby sets the following
amounts as the amounts of Council Tax
for 2026/27 for each of the
categories of dwellings as shown
below.
 
Valuation Bands
Combined Hackney/GLA
 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

£1,373.53

£1,602.45

£1,831.38

£2,060.30

£2,518.15

£2,975.99

£3,433.83

£4,120.60

 
 
3.2.22 Approval, subject to the
decision of Members on recommendations
3.2.19 to 3.2.21, that
Hackney’s Council Tax requirement for 2026/27 be
£124.236m which results in a
Band D Council Tax of £1,549.79 for
Hackney purposes and a total Band D
Council Tax of £2,060.30
including the Greater London
Authority (GLA) precept.
 
3.2.23 Approval, that in accordance
with principles approved under section
52ZB of the Local Government Finance
Act 1992, and the new
provisions included in the Localism
Act 2011, the increase in the
Council’s Council Tax
requirement for 2026/27 as shown at Appendix 8
is not excessive (5% or above) and
therefore does not require the
Council to hold a referendum.
 
3.2.24 Approval for the Treasury
Management Strategy for 2026/27, set out at
Appendix 3.
 
3.2.25 Approval for the criteria for
lending and the financial limits set out at
Appendix 3.
 
3.2.26 Approval for the Minimum
Revenue Provision statement setting out the
method of calculation to be used, as
set out in paragraphs 21.19-21.23
below.
 
Recommendation for Cabinet Only
 
3.3  Approval that, should it be
necessary following the meeting of the GLA
on 26 February 2026, the Group
Director, Finance and Resources be
authorised to update the content of
this report for any changes to the GLA’s band D council tax
and related GLA council tax income, by way of a written addendum,
for the approval of Full Council at its meeting on 4 March
2026.
 
Reasons for
Decision
 
The Council has a legal obligation to set its
Council Tax and adopt its annual budget. This report is seeking
formal approval of the 2026/27 budget.
 
Previous decisions in this context relate
to:
 
· 
The Overall Financial Position reports presented monthly to Council
during 2025/26.
· 
The Calculation of the 2026/27 Council Taxbase & Local Business Rates report approved
by Council on 28 January 2026.