Purpose

his report seeks
approval of the Medium-Term Financial Strategy for 2025/26 to
2026/27. The objective is to deliver a balanced budget over the
period and the Medium-Term Financial Strategy identifies the
actions required to achieve this position and the assumptions made.
It has been prepared alongside the emerging Council Plan to reflect
the ambitions of the Council withing the financial constraints of
the sector. The detail is included in Appendix 'A'.
 
As
part of this process underlying demand pressures and inflation
assumptions have been challenged and reassessed. A rigorous review
of the current 2024/25 budget has been undertaken to identify
further efficiencies and opportunities to reduce expenditure. A
review of savings already in the budget has also been examined to
confirm the deliverability.
 
The report before
Cabinet identifies a shortfall of £9.095m in 2025/26 but
achieves a balanced position by 2026/27. It is summarised in the
table below.
 

 

 2025/26
(£m)

 2026/27
(£m)

Budget Requirement

1,167.878

1,198.919

Funding

1,158.783

1,198.919

 

 

 

Updated Budget Gap

9.095

0

 
To
achieve this position based upon the demand and inflation
assessments within the strategy, additional new savings of
£24m in 2025/26 and £20.6m in 2026/27 are required.
This is a challenge on top of the already planned service savings
of £80m within the budget. Clear plans are being developed to
deliver this position.

Content

The Cabinet approved the recommendation(s) as
set out in the report.