The Scrutiny Commission of Leicestershire County Council met on Monday, 8 September 2025, to discuss the county's financial strategy, asset management, investment programme, shared services, and handling of complaints. The meeting included an update on the Medium Term Financial Strategy, a review of the Corporate Asset Management Plan, an annual performance update on the Investing in Leicestershire Programme, a performance review of the East Midlands Shared Services, and a report on corporate complaints and compliments.

Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) Update

The commission was scheduled to receive an update on the council's Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), covering both budget monitoring and strategy. The report of the Director of Corporate Resources, Declan Keegan, included:

• An update on the County Council's short and medium term financial position.
• Details of changes to the previously agreed 2025-29 capital programme following the latest review.
• The revenue budget monitoring position as at the end of Period 4 (the end of July).

The report noted that the council continues to face a challenging financial outlook. The current MTFS showed the 2025/26 revenue budget as being balanced only after the use of £5m from earmarked reserves and anticipated a funding gap of £38m in 2026/27 rising to £91m by 2028/29, despite savings of £85m being targeted and built into the financial projections. An initial review of the position indicated that the Council will face significant additional costs in 2025/26 and future years, particularly those relating to children's social care, adult social care and children with special education needs and disabilities, through demand and cost increases.

The report stated that a full refresh of the MTFS was underway, updating expenditure assumptions and also taking into account the potential impact of the governments Fair Funding proposals¹.

The Period 4 revenue budget monitoring exercise showed a net forecast overspend of £8.1m.

The report also detailed a review of the four-year capital programme, which now totals £571m. The main changes were:

• Local Transport Grant, £52m between 2025-26 and 2028/29.
• Section 106 contributions, £10m added to the C&FS programme.
• Earmarked capital receipts, £4m added to the C&FS programme.

The Cabinet was scheduled to consider a report on the MTFS position on 12 September 2025, including the proposed changes to the previously agreed 2025-29 capital programme. The Cabinet will also be recommended to endorse additional investment in bank risk sharing products (capital release funds) in line with the Council's approved Treasury Management Strategy which permits up to a maximum investment of £20m at any one time.

Corporate Asset Management Plan (CAMP) Update

The commission was scheduled to discuss the Corporate Asset Management Plan (CAMP) 2022-2026, receiving the Annual Performance and Strategy Update Report 2024-2025. The report of the Director of Corporate Resources, Declan Keegan, set out the performance achieved against the Council's Corporate Asset Management Plan during 2024-2025, outlined changes in strategy and provided details of the work programmed for 2025 - 2026.

As of 1st April 2025, the Council's portfolio comprised a total of 716 freehold and leasehold property assets with a combined value of £519 million. The overall number of property assets reduced by 12 from 728 in 2024 as a result of the number of disposals and leases surrendered exceeding that of additional purchases and the development of new assets.

The report stated that the estimated future liabilities in respect of essential maintenance, repair and improvements required to meet Health and Safety and regulatory compliance has fallen from £53.2 million in 2023-24 to £51.1m for the whole of the Council's property portfolio despite continuing high inflation in the construction sector. £1.8m (3.5%) falls within the most urgent priority 1 category which requires issues to be addressed within 12 months. The current year's Central Maintenance Fund allocation is £3.01m.

The report noted that the initial CAMP Action Plan was developed for the period 2022 – 2026 and was subsequently updated and extended to include up to 2028. The Action Plan is divided into three sections covering the property related input to the delivery of the MTFS capital programme, the reviews and strategy updates necessary to support service delivery and improvement, plus the ongoing annual property management programme.

Overall, 16 (67%) of the 24 performance indicators assessed were achieved in 2024 - 25, a significant improvement on the 50% achieved in 2023-24. A further 2 (11%) were not achieved but showed a significant improvement in performance on the previous year with the remaining 6 (22%) failing to be achieved.

One key local performance indicator was the target of completing the asset challenge in respect of a minimum of 2 local authority areas in the year. All the operational and non-operational properties within Harborough District and Hinckley and Bosworth Borough were reviewed in the year.

Investing in Leicestershire Programme (IILP) Update

The commission was scheduled to receive an annual performance update on the Investing in Leicestershire Programme (IILP) for 2024/25. The report of the Director of Corporate Resources, Declan Keegan, set out the performance of the IILP in 2024/25.

At the end of 2024/25, the direct property portfolio, including the value of the let areas of County Hall managed alongside the IILP properties, was valued at £231.8m and comprised £95.9m rural estate, £63.1m offices, £26.0m industrial properties and £4.7m of other property together with £42.1m of development properties.

In addition, the IILP holds financial investments that have been made in vehicles outside direct property ownership (diversifiers). These have a current value of £60.5m comprising £16.1m pooled property funds, £23.0m private debt, £8.7m pooled infrastructure funds and £12.7m pooled bank risk share funds. This brings the total value of the portfolio to £283.4m.

Overall, the capital value of the IILP increased by £0.1m during 2024/25 due mainly to an increase in the value of the direct property portfolio of £16.6m and a similar reduction in the value of the diversified assets as a result of assets being realised during the year. In addition, the IILP generated a net income of £8.6m which will contribute directly to the provision of Council services.

The let property investments have produced a return of 11.6% with all direct property, including the development sector, achieving a return of 9.5% - well above the market return of 7.7%. In addition, the diversifiers produced an income return of 8.1%.

The report also included more detailed information on the non-direct property investments (diversifier investments) held in the IILP.

East Midlands Shared Services (EMSS) Performance Update

The commission was scheduled to receive a summary of the performance reported to the Joint Committee of East Midlands Shared Services for 2024/25 and an update on progress against strategic priorities in 2025.

The report noted that the overall outturn position for EMSS on 31st March 2025 was £5.17 million, which represents an underspend of £478,000 (or 8.5%) against the approved budget for the year. In recognition of the overall underspend position each partner has received a reimbursement of £239,000.

The report stated that 2024/25 has been a year of significant change for EMSS. In August 2024 Elaine Simpson was appointed as the new Head of EMSS.

The EMSS 5-year strategic plan for 2025-2029 has been agreed by partners. Within the plan is the Strategic Aim, projects, activities to support objectives, measures of success, timelines along with expected challenges and the required engagement from each partner. The plan demonstrates the services focus on continuous improvement and customer satisfaction.

The report also noted that the big development in customer service is the implementation of a new ticketing platform (Fresh-service) which went live in March 2025.

Corporate Complaints and Compliments Annual Report

The commission was scheduled to consider the Corporate Complaints and Compliments Annual Report, covering the period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 205.

For 2024/25:

• 1,287 corporate complaints were received a 12% decrease from 2023/2024.
• Children and Family Services and Environment and Transport departments consistently present as the top two departments in terms of volume due to 'SENA' and 'School and SEN Transport' related complaints.
• 67 Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman enquiries were received – a 20% decrease from 2023/2024.

During 2024/2025, the percentage of complaints responded to within 10 and 20 working days decreased from the previous year; however, 93% were responded to within 40 working days (maximum recommended by the ombudsman), which is an improvement from 2023/2024 (90%).

In 2024/2025 75 complaints escalated to stage 2, this escalation profile has, positively, had a decreasing trajectory since 2022/2023. 51% of all stage 2 complaints received a response within 20 working days.

The LGSCO received 122 enquiries in 2024/2025. 40 (33%) of the 122 were investigated, with 33 of the 40 upheld, giving an uphold rate of 83%. Most upheld cases related to SENA (15) and financial assessment (10) for care and support.

There was a 7% decrease in the volume of compliments recorded during the year with 393 across all services; with Libraries, Heritage and Museums receiving 57% of the total volume.