Here's a summary of the Budget & Resources Scrutiny Committee meeting:

The Budget & Resources Scrutiny Committee convened to review the council's financial performance and outlook. Key discussion points included the forecast outturn for the first quarter of 2025/26, the medium-term financial outlook, and updates to the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) business plan. The committee noted the updated action tracker, the Q1 forecast outturn, the medium term financial outlook, and the HRA business plan refresh.

Medium Term Financial Outlook 2026/27 to 2029/30

The committee considered the Medium Term Financial Outlook (MTFO) for 2026/27 to 2029/30, acknowledging a base budget funding gap of £23.623m by 2029/30, with £4.558m of this arising in 2026/27. Key changes to the MTFO since the last forecast included:

• Demand Pressures: Increased by £3.042m in 2026/27 and £15.660m over the next four years, including a £2.494m increase in Children's Social Care due to rising placement and fostering demands.
• Inflation: An additional £0.193m was added in 2026/27, mainly due to contractual inflation and the impact of expected increases to the National Living Wage¹.
• Council Tax: The model was adjusted to reflect an increase from 2.99% to 4.99% for the next three years, before reverting to 2.99% in 2029/30, adding (£3.574m) in 2026/27 and (£22.676m) over the four-year period.
• Business Rates: The MTFO now assumes a full reset in 2026/27, losing growth of around £30m, with future growth re-profiled towards the latter part of the MTFO period.
• Government Funding Fair Funding Review: Based on modelling by Pixel Consulting, government funding is projected to increase by (£39.182m) in 2026/27 and (£44.970m) over the four-year period.
• Budget Reductions: An additional £1.151m in savings have been added to the MTFO position since February 2025.

The report also noted that the government is consulting on the new Fair Funding Review, which aims to reform how central government allocates funding to local authorities in England.

The committee noted the financial forecasts and the proposed approach to setting a balanced budget for 2026/27, as detailed in Annex B - General Fund. They also agreed that the Portfolio Holder, Cabinet, and Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) should continue developing detailed proposals to deliver a robust and sustainable Medium Term Financial Plan.

Quarter 1 2025/26 Forecast Outturn

The committee reviewed the Quarter 1 2025/26 Forecast Outturn, which had also been presented to the Cabinet meeting on 9 September 2025. The report outlined the forecast outturn position for the General Fund Revenue Account (GFRA), Housing Revenue Account (HRA), Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), and Capital Programme.

Key points from the report included:

• The General Fund Revenue Account (GFRA) is reporting an overspend of £1.346m against budget, mainly due to high-cost external residential placements in Children's Services.
• The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) is reporting a forecast underspend of (£2.133m), which will be offset by an increase in the revenue contribution to capital reserves.
• The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) is forecasting a surplus carry forward of £3.987m, an adverse movement of £1.040m.
• The Capital Programme is forecasting an underspend of (£5.517m), with £6.113m planned to slip to later years, resulting in a forecast overspend of £0.597m in year.

The committee noted the GFRA forecast outturn, the dashboards supporting the outturn position (Annex A - Budget Monitoring Summary), and the reserves position (Annex B - Reserves). They also approved additions and amendments to resource allocation and spend approval for the 2025/26 capital programme (Annex C - Capital Revisions), and noted the forecast outturn position on the 2025/26 Capital Programme (Annex D - Capital Monitoring Q1) and Tariff Programme. Finally, the Cabinet approved the Debt Write-off exceeding £0.050m as outlined in paragraph 2.25 of the report.

HRA Business Plan Refresh - Quarter 1

The committee received an update on the main movements between the 2025/26 budget set in February 2025 and the Quarter 1 refresh position. The report (HRA Business Plan Refresh Q1) noted that the HRA outlook remains challenging, and the council will endeavour to invest rental income back into existing stock to ensure homes meet the Decent Homes Standard² and achieve an EPC³ rating of C.

The Q1 business plan refresh was based on the following assumptions:

• Rent: Assumes CPI + 1% increase for 10 years only, thereafter, assumes CPI only.
• Stock Assumptions: Updated based on the latest projections of additions and demolitions.
• Planned Maintenance: Based on the last assessment by Savills (October 2022), with adjustments made for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund - Wave 2 programme.
• Repairs and Maintenance: No changes have been made to the expenditure lines following the successful tender of the new contract, which started on 4 August 2025.
• Compliance Contracts: No changes have been made for the compliance contracts which have been tendered, awarded and are going through the consultation period.

The committee noted the report.

Action Tracker

The committee received and noted the updated action tracker and information relating to outcomes agreed at previous meetings (Budget and Resources Scrutiny Committee Action Tracker).

The action tracker included updates on:

• 2024/25 Outturn including Treasury Management Annual Report
• Comprehensive Spending Review and Other Government Announcements

Work Programme 2025/26

The committee noted the work programme for 2025/26 (BRSC Work Programme 25-26).

The work programme included items such as:

• Review of the 2024/25 Outturn
• Annual Treasury Management Report
• Update on the Government Spending Review
• Q1 Financial Monitoring Review 2025/26
• HRA Business Plan Refresh
• Review of Budget Pressures
• Local Gov Finance Review Update
• Capital Programme Review
• Schools Budget – Including Review of the High Needs Block
• Update on Draft 2026/27 Budget
• Review of Budget Reductions and Income Proposals
• Review of Provisional Local Government Settlement 2026/27
• Review Forward Plan for 2026/27
• Review of 2025/26 Budget Scrutiny – lessons learned

The committee also considered the minutes of the Budget and Resources Scrutiny Sub-Committee held on 8 April 2025 (Budget and Resources Scrutiny Sub-Committee Minutes 8 April 2025). The sub-committee had been convened to consider the Call-In of the Delegated Decision made on 18 March 2025 regarding the procurement of works for the Integrated Care Hub at Linford Wood Place.

Councillor Leo Montague proposed, and Councillor Peter Cannon seconded the motion to exclude the public and press from the meeting due to the exempt annex to the report containing financial or business affairs information. The motion was agreed.

The Sub-Committee made the following recommendations:

1. That the Called-In decision of 18 March 2025 (Procurement of Works for the Integrated Care Hub at Linford Wood Place) not be referred back to the decisionmaker.
2. The Sub-Committee asks that the Budget and Resources Scrutiny Committee Planning Group consider adding scrutiny of capital projects to its work programme.
3. The Sub-Committee asks that the Audit Committee ensure that the outstanding focused review on Procurement and Contract Management Risk is completed as quickly as possible.
4. That the Monitoring Officer be asked to prepare a briefing note on whether the thresholds and procedures used by this Council for Executive Call-In are in line with that of other similar councils, and that Council use this report to review if the current arrangements strike an appropriate balance between the need for proper scrutiny against those wishing to disrupt the decision-making process.