Purpose

Report to inform cabinet of the provisional outturn for the Council against budget for 2025-26.

Decision

RESOLVED that:-

Cabinet approve:

1. 1     The creation of a new earmarked reserve for the Northumberland Children and Adults Safeguarding Partnership (NCASP) which is hosted by the Council. The Partnership is jointly funded by Northumberland County Council, Northumbria Police and North East & North Cumbria Integrated Care Board. It has been agreed by all parties that the unspent balance of funds at the end of 2025-26 will be carried forward to support ongoing safeguarding work in 2026-27. This reserve will hold the balance of the Council contribution remaining at the end of 2025-26 which is expected to be £0.039 million. This arrangement will be reviewed on an annual basis.
2. 2     The creation of a new earmarked reserve within the Housing Revenue Account for demolition costs of unused dwellings. The reserve will hold the balance from the £0.600 million that was set aside within the 2025-26 budget, with expenditure being planned for early 2026-27.
3. 3     The drawdown of £1.509 million from the Strategic Management earmarked reserve and £0.686 million from the Restructuring Reserve to meet the voluntary redundancy, severance and strain on the fund costs associated with those staff leaving the Council as part of the Ways of Working restructure. This covers the costs incurred during 2025-26 and the provision made for those staff due to leave in 2026-27 that meet the redundancy provision criteria.
4. 4     The drawdown of £0.996 million from the Homes for Ukraine Scheme earmarked reserve, which has been used to support Ukrainian families to rebuild their lives and fully integrate into local communities.
5. 5     The transfer of £2.000 million to the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Deficit reserve. The Council is required to meet 10% of the cumulative DSG deficit at 31 March 2028, when the statutory override is due to end. This contribution represents 10% of the cumulative deficit at 31 March 2026, with the remaining 90% to be met by the High Needs Stability Grant which is expected in 2026-27.
6. 6     The amendment to the funding package for the Northumberland Line and Newsham Railway Bridge by:

i.        Reallocating £0.500 million of Council funding from the Northumberland Line project to the Newsham Road Bridge project.

ii.        Reallocating £0.500 million from the sum allocated in the Strategic Management Reserve for the Newsham Road Bridge project to fund the benefits realisation studies within the Council’s revenue budget.

1. 7     That approval be delegated to the Section 151 Officer to authorise the utilisation of any balance remaining, upon finalisation of the Statement of Accounts, to be transferred to/from council reserves.
2. 8     The transfer of £0.818 million to the Restructuring Reserve to meet future costs linked to the Voluntary Exit Scheme in 2026-27.

Cabinet note:

1. 9     The projected breakeven position on services and the assumptions outlined in this report.
2. 10    That the provisional outturn position may change and it is subject to the impact of any technical accounting adjustments required in finalising the statement of accounts.
3. 11    The projected overspend on the Dedicated Schools Grant of £11.991 million as detailed in Appendix E.
4. 12    The projected overspend on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget of £0.102 million as detailed in Appendix J.
5. 13    The re-profiling to the Capital Programme of £60.940 million from 2025-26 to 2026-27 to reflect the outturn in the current financial year.
6. 14    The supplementary estimates at Appendix A and the required changes to the budgets.
7. 15    The delivery of the approved savings at Appendix B.
8. 16    The use of the contingency shown at Appendix L.
9. 17    The use of reserves shown at Appendix M.
10. 18    The virements requested by services within delegated limits as shown in Appendix N.
11. 19    The details of capital project reprofiling shown at Appendix O.