The meeting included scheduled discussion of financial matters, specifically the Council's quarterly finance update, and an update on the Council's progress towards the net zero goals set out in its Climate Action Plan.

Quarterly Finance Update

This was a regular update on the Council's budget and finances, and included scheduled discussion of reports on the Council's Overall Financial Position, the Capital Programme Update, the Localised Business Rates Pool and the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP).

The report pack provided to Councillors for the meeting suggests that the Council is forecasting a budget overspend of £36.964m, primarily driven by cost pressures in temporary accommodation, adult social care and children's services.

The Council remains in a serious financial position... if we were to do nothing and we were to continue to overspend at the current rate our reserves will be exhausted in 2 to 3 years. Faster, if spend continues to grow and no containment action is taken...

- Jackie Moylan, Interim Group Director of Finance, Item 4 - F S339 202425 Overall Financial Position Report - November 2024

The report pack describes a number of initiatives intended to mitigate the overspend, including a freeze on all non-essential spending and a recruitment freeze for both permanent and agency staff.

The report pack states that the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2025/26 published in December 2024 would increase Hackney's Core Spending Power by £24.5m.

The report pack also states that the Council is scheduled to receive an additional £9.7m from the government's new 'Recovery Grant'. This grant was introduced to support those Councils that are most deprived and have a low ability to raise income through Council Tax¹. The report pack states that Hackney was also scheduled to receive additional funding for homelessness prevention (£3.4m) and social care (£6.6m).

The report pack states that Councillor Rob Chapman (Cabinet Member for Finance, Insourcing and Customer Service), Jackie Moylan (Interim Group Director Finance and Corporate Resources) and Deirdre Worrell (Interim Director of Financial Management) were invited to attend the meeting.

Net Zero Review Update

This item was included in the agenda to review the Council's progress towards net zero.

The report pack describes how the review was to cover the following areas:

• progress made by the Council in responding to climate change
• how the Council is collaborating with other organisations on climate action
• progress in communicating the Council's climate change response to residents and how it is engaging residents with its net zero priorities.

The report pack describes how the Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and formally adopted a borough-wide Climate Action Plan (CAP) at a Cabinet meeting in May 2023.

The report pack highlights a number of the Council's achievements, including:

• the installation of 411 on-street electric vehicle chargepoints, with the Council intending to install at least 2,500 by 2026
• successfully securing £12.9m from the government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) to support a £28.6m programme of works to reduce emissions from 17 Council buildings
• the successful launch of the Hackney Community Municipal Investment, which raised £600,000 from 467 investors to fund the installation of solar panels on Council homes and at local schools.

The report pack states that Hannah Jameson (Climate Change Programme Director, London Councils), Councillor Sarah Young (Cabinet Member Climate Change, Environment and Transport), Geeta Subramaniam-Mooney (Director, Environment and Climate Change), Sam Kirk (Assistant Director Climate, Sustainability & Environmental Services), John Holden (Head of Finance), Martin Szybut (Assistant Director Communications and Engagement) and Matthew Carrington (Climate Programme Manager) were invited to attend the meeting.