The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee reviewed the council's performance for the second quarter of 2026-27, noting a significant improvement in the financial position compared to the previous quarter, although challenges remain, particularly within children's services. The committee also discussed updates to the council's work programme, including upcoming scrutiny of cybersecurity and the ERP system implementation.

Integrated Performance Report – Quarter 2, 2026-27

The committee received an update on the council's performance for the second quarter of the 2026-27 financial year. Councillor Sean Bagguley, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, presented the report, highlighting that overall performance and delivery remained strong. 70% of strategic measures were on target, and 72% of delivery projects were progressing as planned.

A key focus of the report was the council's financial position. The latest revenue forecast indicated an overspend of £8.896 million, which, while significant, represented a substantial improvement from the £19.8 million overspend reported in the first quarter. This improvement was attributed to the Corporate Cost Recovery Plan and savings identified across various directorates. However, the report also detailed ongoing financial pressures within children's and families' services, primarily due to rising numbers and costs associated with children in care and safeguarding services.

Councillor Bagguley explained that while these demand-led pressures were a concern, they were being partially offset by savings and favourable variances in other service areas. The council's savings programme, totalling £13.42 million, had seen £4.114 million delivered, with a further £7.624 million assessed as having a high confidence of delivery.

Several councillors raised questions regarding the report. Councillor James Hodges asked for more specific details on cost recoveries in areas such as transport, sustainability, and waste. Councillor Bagguley offered to provide a detailed list of cost recovery items after the meeting.

Discussions also touched upon digital innovation, with a question raised about measuring productivity gains from the implementation of tools like Microsoft Copilot. Michelle McGinty, Assistant Director for Strategy and Transformation, explained that this was a work in progress, with efforts underway to develop clearer tracking mechanisms for time savings and financial efficiencies.

The workforce efficiency measures were also discussed, with a councillor noting that the red-amber-green status indicated areas needing attention. Councillor Bagguley elaborated that the council was moving towards a more cost-based approach to measuring workforce efficiency, rather than solely relying on Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) numbers, to provide a more accurate financial picture.

Councillor Philip White, Leader of the Opposition, inquired about the forecast overspend for the end of the financial year and the breakdown of recurring versus one-off savings contributing to the reduction. Councillor Bagguley clarified that the forecast overspend for the year-end was £8.9 million, and approximately 50% of the reduction in overspend was recurring, with the other 50% being one-off. Councillor White also raised concerns about the council's long-term financial position, referencing a projection of an £83 million overspend by 2031-32 without mitigations. Councillor Bagguley acknowledged the significant challenge and outlined ongoing work on the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), including projections on the impact of early intervention policies and the potential for reductions in children in care numbers.

Councillor Ian Cooper raised a point regarding the number of children in care, specifically questioning the figures related to unaccompanied asylum seekers and their funding. Councillor Bagguley clarified that these individuals were 100% grant-funded by central government and therefore excluded from the council's direct costs.

The committee agreed to recommend that a list of cost recovery items be emailed to members and that the results of the workforce efficiency programme be presented to the committee.

Work Programme

Updates were provided on the committee's work programme. A cybersecurity meeting was scheduled due to the increasing threat of cyber-attacks on local authorities. A briefing session on Treasury Management was also planned to ensure members had a thorough understanding of the report. The committee noted that a meeting regarding Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) would be scheduled once further information was available from the government. The implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, initially planned for December, was rescheduled to April to allow for better scrutiny of data migration and delivery tracking.

The committee noted the updates to the work programme and had no further questions.