The Corporate Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel met on 16 September 2025, and discussed the Q1 monitoring report, which highlighted potential overspends in Children's Services, the Corporate Estate, the Commercial Estate, Waste Services and Heritage Services, as well as a presentation on the Procurement Act 2023 and the council's procurement strategy. The panel also reviewed and updated their workplan for the coming months.

Q1 Monitoring Report

The Panel reviewed the Q1 Monitoring Report, which presented the revenue and capital budget monitoring for April to June 2025. The report highlighted several service areas with a high risk of overspend, including:

• Children's Services: Due to rising demand and residential placement costs, Children's Services is projecting a potential overspend of £4 million to £8 million. To mitigate these pressures, the service is implementing an enhanced transformation programme, including a focused placements taskforce.
• Corporate Estate: Due to delays in rationalising the estate and adopting the Corporate Landlord model, the Corporate Estate is facing a potential risk exposure of £0.5 million to £0.8 million.
• Commercial Estate: Rental income shortfall is the key area of pressure, with a material budget pressure of £0.5 million to £1 million forecast.
• Waste Services: Due to pressures on staffing, fleet, and depot costs, Waste Services is forecast to overspend by £200,000 to £300,000.
• Heritage Services: Lower visitor numbers than anticipated are expected to result in a £1.3 million reduction in income, with a material financial risk exposure of £1.25 million to £1.75 million noted.

Early estimates for Parking Services and Corporate Budgets (treasury management and borrowing costs to support the capital programme) are anticipated to offset some of these risks.

Savings of £14.01 million were included in the 2025/26 budget. At present £9.98 million savings are forecast as delivered, with the remainder either being mitigated through alternative measures, or flagged as delayed or undeliverable. Savings delivery will be monitored closely through the year and management action plans identified when delivery is at risk.

The current position of the 2025/26 Capital Programme is a forecast spend of £108.2 million against a budget of £108.9 million. Of the variance of £0.7 million, £0.4 million is anticipated will be rephased into future years.

Councillor Hal MacFie asked about the difference in numbers regarding international visitors. The Council Leader explained that the Chinese market had not fully recovered since Covid where the US had bounced back. He stated that this trend is in line with UK inbound and museum numbers. He added that the Roman Baths have received accreditation based on value for money and that the spend per individual is up. He stated that this was a credit to the Heritage Team.

Councillor Gavin Heathcote asked for confirmation that the 8 residential placements in Children's Services (£2.7m) were young people and not asylum seekers. The officer stated that was how he understood it. The Council Leader explained that there could be some policy development work regarding the private sector exploiting Local Government.

Councillor Jess David asked if there is confidence in the level of savings regarding the BOB (Being Our Best) scheme. The officer explained that any savings are delayed due to the delays in the programme – we are currently working through the appeals process.

Councillor David asked if agency costs are a factor. The officer explained that relevant services will be working with HR (Human Resources) colleagues to address this.

Councillor MacFie asked about flexible capital receipts¹. The officer explained that this was introduced by the Government so capital profit can be used to fund one off revenue costs if certain criteria are met. The Council Leader gave an example of the Englishcombe Lane project where significant revenue savings could be used towards staff costs.

Councillor Colin Blackburn asked about our marketing budget line outside of Visit West which is funded by WECA (West of England Combined Authority). The Council Leader explained that there is a marketing team in Heritage Services and we are aware of the need to push.

Councillor Toby Simon asked that the Panel look at the Council Tax Reduction Scheme again and asked if there was a feel for levels of arrears. The officer explained that he did not have specific figures but thought that collection figures were generally holding up. Regarding Council Tax, the Council Leader added that we are lobbying the Government to take into account the number of students in a city with regard to the Fair Funding Review.

Councillor Malcolm Treby asked how it is decided which Capital Schemes are paused. The officer explained that Capital Schemes generally would have a project contingency and there is also a corporate contingency.

Councillor Treby asked if there had been any change in the risk environment since the report went to Cabinet in July. The officer explained that the Fair Funding amount is still unclear and we will find out November/December time.

Councillor Robin Moss stated that we have an officer coming to the November meeting of the Panel to talk about the Capital Programme and stated that the outcome of the Fair Funding Review is likely in the week before Christmas. He stated that there will be transitional protection. The officer stated that a couple of weeks are needed to work through it and transition funding would be 3 years. He added that Business Rates are unclear for us, there may not be protection regarding pilot reductions.

In response to a question from Councillor Moss regarding home to school transport, the officer explained that demand is not certain until we get confirmation of the September intake numbers. There is no flag of significant variance so far.

Councillor Moss noted that a small number of placements can have an impact on budgets. He asked if any placements were ceasing and if there was any discussion with the NHS regarding medical/social care. The officer stated that discussions are ongoing with our health partners. The Council Leader added that the new Director of Children's Services will be looking at procurement and that other authorities have been more ruthless in their discussions with the NHS.

Procurement Update

The Panel received a presentation on the Procurement Act 2023, the Procurement Reform Consultation, and the council's Procurement Strategy.

The Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025, and the presentation provided an update on the key deliverables of the Act, including:

• Completion of Procurement Act 2023 Training
• Central Digital Platform registration and set up
• Integration of the council's e-tendering system with the Central Digital Platform
• Review of the council's e-tendering system to ensure PA23 requirements are built into the process
• Updating intranet pages to reflect changes
• Production and updating of internal templates for procurement activity
• Review of standard terms and conditions with the legal team

The presentation also provided an update on the Procurement Reform Consultation, which focused on 'growing British industry, jobs and skills'. The consultation proposed:

• Setting targets for procurement spend with SMEs and VCSEs
• Extending requirements around prompt payment and payment transparency to all payments
• Increasing flexibility for people-focused services
• Streamlining standard national social value criteria

The council's Procurement Strategy was revised and came into force on 1 November 2024, and the presentation provided an update on the progress made against the delivery plan, including:

• Reviewing and updating the Contract Standing Orders
• Reviewing Invitation to Tender templates for ease of use and accessibility for SMEs
• Ongoing work with the sustainability team regarding minimum standards for goods, works and services
• Updating the collation of pipeline internet version

Councillor Toby Simon stated that the 'social value' work is appreciated. He asked about member involvement being more proactive in terms of contract vetting. The officer explained that member involvement at the point of design was built in during the Standing Order Review. Councillor Simon explained that he was a member of that group and wanted it to go further. The Council Leader explained that the Cabinet Member for Resources is working with the Resources Director on this. Councillor Simon stated that members could look at scoring/weighting systems. He welcomed the start that had been made.

In response to a question form Councillor Treby, the officer explained that there is no forecast at this stage on how much more would go to local businesses.

Councillor Moss thanked the officer for the report and noted the balance between legal requirements and the outcomes we want. He stated that in the legislation, contracts are not supposed to be broken down in size but the Voluntary Sector have highlighted that smaller contracts are more winnable for SMEs and the Voluntary Sector. He added that larger organisations have bid writing teams. There are concerns about contracts being awarded late. He also stated that with larger integrated care boards, 'local' might mean larger than we think and asked whose policy (NHS or Council) takes precedence. The Council Leader stated that it would be the one that pays.

In response to a question from Councillor Blackburn, the officer confirmed that the Council property company is inside the procurement rules.

Panel Workplan

The Panel noted the workplan with the following items scheduled for future meetings:

November 2025

• Home to School Finance Report
• Council Tax Reduction Scheme Update
• Capital Delivery Project Assurance
• Parish Council Election and by-election recharges

January 2026

• Library IT
• Budget discussion

The Panel agreed a new meeting date in February 2026 for the Panel to review feedback from each PDS Panel on the Budget.