This meeting includes discussion of a proposed change to adult social care charging, the amalgamation of two schools and the Council’s budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Budget Report 2025-26 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2025-28

The report pack contains the Council’s budget for 2025-26, and its Medium Term Financial Strategy for the three years from 2025-28. The report pack describes the budget as ‘prudent’ and ‘sustainable’ and highlights growth in a number of areas. In particular, there are increases to reserves, investment in front line services, including waste, SEND, young people and community safety. These include specific revenue growth items such as;

• The Mayor's Energy Fund which will provide £100 payments to 15,000 vulnerable households in the borough to support them with costs associated with energy over winter.
  
• £1million for the reintroduction of the Meals on Wheels scheme to provide vulnerable residents with hot meals.
• Free school uniform grants will be available for all pupils entering Reception and Year 7 in households earning less than £50,350.
• A Community Resilience Fund to provide additional capacity to support those in need in the community.
• Free swimming will continue to be available for women and girls aged 16 and over, and men aged 55 and over.
• £3,000,000 additional investment in CCTV across the borough and funding to recruit 44 additional Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers.

The report also sets out how the Medium Term Financial Strategy proposes to deliver £77million in savings through efficiencies and service transformations. These include;

• The Employment and Skills Service will be restructured, making use of external grant funding to focus on a number of key areas including, women, young people, skills and career pathways for local residents.
• Technology-enabled savings in a number of departments.
• A reduction in spend on agency workers by introducing a vacancy factor of 7.5%.¹
• Income generation from commercial waste and the Council’s commercial property portfolio.

The report pack also includes discussion of a range of risks to the financial health of the Council, including inflation, business rates reform, and increasing demand for Adult Social Care, SEND and homelessness support. The budget proposes to mitigate some of this risk through a range of initiatives, such as:

• The General Fund Reserve² will be increased to £25 million to meet the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) best practice guidance.
• A one-off revenue contingency of £5 million is included to support in-year pressures.
• A Council Tax Support Relief Fund will continue to shield those in most need from increases to Council Tax.
• The household income ceiling to qualify for the fund will be increased to £50,350.
• Council Tax will be frozen for three years for those earning £50,350 or less.

The report pack also includes the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget for 2025-28. The report proposes an increase in housing rents by 2.7% for 2025-26, in line with government guidance, which will generate an estimated £2.1 million of additional income. The proposed budget also includes growth in a number of areas, including:

• Investment in housing options services to support the delivery of temporary accommodation.
• Investment to fund new acquisitions and programme headroom to enable an increase in the number of affordable homes delivered by the Council.
• Funding for repairs and improvements to existing Council housing stock.

The report pack also includes details of changes to a number of Council fees and charges³. In line with inflation the majority of fees and charges will be increased by 3.3%.

Finally, the report pack also details the capital budget for the three years from 2025-28. The report pack shows a proposed total budget of £241.963 million for the General Fund Capital Programme and a total budget of £784.696 million for the Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme.

Free Domiciliary Care – April 2025 – Revised Charging Policy

The report pack includes a revised Adult Social Care Charging Policy in preparation for the introduction of free domiciliary care for residents from 1 April 2025.

The report acknowledges that the change in policy will result in a budget pressure of £4.8 million and highlights the risk of increased demand for services from both new and existing users.

The report pack indicates that charging for residential and nursing placements will remain and that historic debt from domiciliary care charging, as well as debt incurred up until 31 March 2025, will continue to be pursued.

Proposal for the amalgamation of Globe Primary and Rachel Keeling Nursery Schools from 1 September 2025.

This report pack includes the findings of a school-level public consultation about the possible amalgamation of Globe Primary School and Rachel Keeling Nursery School.

The report pack describes how the schools have a history of strong partnership working and explains how the proposal to amalgamate is being put forward to ensure the sustainability of high-quality early years education for the community. The Governing Bodies of both schools have identified a number of challenges they feel would need to be addressed in the event of amalgamation including:

• Ensuring transparency in current and future financial planning.
• Developing the existing Globe Primary School Governing Body to include expertise in nursery education.
• Careful planning with staff, including discussions with the Headteacher of Globe Primary School, Marie, about possible staffing, leadership, curriculum, pedagogy and policy structures.
• Continued close work with parents to build relationships and confidence in the new, amalgamated school.

The consultation report included in the pack indicates that there has been a strong, positive response to the amalgamation proposal and that no equalities issues or community concerns have been raised. The report pack indicates that the governing bodies of both schools have agreed to start preparatory work to address the inevitable challenges that will occur should the two schools amalgamate.