Purpose

Cabinet to recommend to Council a number of
actions including setting the net revenue budget, council tax
requirement, capital programme and numerous other associated
policies.

Content

RESOLVED:
 
It is recommended that Cabinet makes the
following recommendations to Full Council.
 
Cabinet recommends that Council: 
 

Approves the net revenue budget
requirement be set at £1,265.9 million (net
cost of services after service specific government grants) for
2026/27 (Annex B), subject to confirmation of the Final Local
Government Financial Settlement.
Approves the total Council Tax
Funding Requirement be set at £1,033.0
million for 2026/27. This is based on a council tax increase of
4.99%, made up of an increase in the level of core council tax of
2.99% and an increase of 2% in the precept proposed by Central
Government to cover the growing cost of Adult Social Care (Annex
E).
Sets the Surrey County Council
precept for Band D Council Tax at £1,938.42, which represents
a 4.99% uplift, a rise of £1.77 a week from the 2025/26
precept of £1,846.35. This includes £323.51 for the
Adult Social Care precept, which has increased by £36.90. A
full list of bands is as follows:

Notes that underlying General Fund reserve
balances are projected to remain at £49.1 million as of 1
April 2026, based on the current year forecast. 
Approves the Total Schools Budget of
£787.6 million to meet the council’s statutory
requirement on schools funding (as set out in Section 9 of the
2026/27 Final Budget (Appendix 1)).
Approves the overall indicative
Budget Envelopes for Directorates and individual services for the
2026/27 budget (Annex B) and that the Corporate Leadership Team be
required to meet the revenue budget for the delivery of council
services.
That the Corporate Leadership Team
be required to deliver the revenue saving plans as set out in Annex
A.
Delegate powers to the Leader and
Deputy Chief Executive & Executive Director of Resources
(Section 151 Officer) to finalise budget proposals and
recommendations to County Council, updated to take into account new
information in the Final Local Government Finance Settlement;
Approves the total £297.1
million proposed Capital Programme for 2026/27 (comprising
£291.5 million of budget and 5.6 million pipeline) (Annex
C).
Approves the Capital and Investment
Strategy (Annex F - Sections 1 to 3), which provides an overview of
how risks associated with capital expenditure, financing and
treasury will be managed as well as how they contribute towards the
delivery of services.
Approve the Treasury Management
Strategy and Prudential Indicators (Annex F – Section 4)
which set a framework for the council’s treasury function to
manage risks, source borrowing and invest surplus cash.
Approves the policy for making a
prudent level of revenue provision for the repayment of debt - the
Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy (Annex G).
Approve the planned use and
contributions to the level of the Earmarked Reserves, as set out in
Annex D.
Approves the creation and funding of
the council’s contribution to the Local Government
Reorganisation Implementation Programme (as set out in Annex
D).  
Cabinet acknowledges and accepts the
opposition(s)  proposal /
amendments  in principle subject to the
council due diligence with the finance team and to be incorporated
into the Budget proposal for Council to approve.

 
(The decisions on
this item can be called-in by the Resources and Performance Select
Committee)