The Corporate Services and Economic Growth Overview and Scrutiny Committee (CSEG OSC) met to discuss the council's financial performance, the impact of Universal Credit on housing tenants, and the upcoming work programme. The committee was also scheduled to receive an update on the Fair Funding Review.

Financial Performance

The committee was scheduled to discuss the council's financial performance for 2025-26, based on the position at the end of June 2025. According to the Financial Performance report, the cabinet was to be informed of the council's current financial standing against the budget for the year.

The report indicated a projected overspend of £7.507 million on services, with the largest overspends expected in Adults, Ageing & Wellbeing (£3.767 million) and Children, Young People & Education (£2.566 million). The report also noted a projected overspend on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget of £1.011 million.

The report also included a schedule of supplementary estimates, detailing new grants and amendments to existing grants awarded to the council between April and June 2025. These included grants for:

• The Better Care Fund
• A Music Hub
• Core School Budget Grant
• Devolved Formula Capital
• High Needs Provision Capital Allocation
• Post-16 budget grant
• Post-16 Pupil Premium Plus
• School Based Nurseries Capital Grant
• Secure Accommodation Capital
• Supported Internships Grant
• Northumberland Coast National Landscape (AONB)
• Additional Highways Maintenance Funding
• Mayoral Renewables Fund
• Northumberland Small Business Service
• Rural Asset Multiplier Pilot (RAMP)
• Traffic Signal Obsolescence Grant
• Swimming Pool Support Fund

The report also provided an update on the council's savings and efficiencies programme, noting that the council had agreed to implement savings and efficiencies totalling £16.299 million in 2025-26.

The Appendix O for Financial Performance 2025-26 document detailed proposed reprofiling of capital projects.

The report recommended that the cabinet approve the reprofiling of £70.073 million from 2025-26 to 2026-27 to reflect estimated expenditure levels in the current financial year, and note the projected overspend on services and the HRA budget.

Fair Funding Review

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the Fair Funding Formula, along with a document of responses from the Fair Funding Review 2.0 Consultation. The Fair Funding Review document included the council's response to the consultation, which raised concerns about the potential for zero allocations through the updated Settlement Funding Assessment (SFA). The council stated that it did not support the possibility of zero allocations, and that the system should be set up so that every authority has a positive allocation.

The council's response also raised concerns about the removal of sparsity indicators within the Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services (EPCS) and Adult Social Care formulas, and the removal of the Winter Services element from the Highways Maintenance formula.

Universal Credit Impact on Housing Tenants

The committee was scheduled to receive a report providing detailed information regarding the impact of Universal Credit on housing tenants. The Universal Credit Impact on Housing Tenants report outlined the council's performance in rent collection, and highlighted the advice and support offered to tenants.

According to the report, Northumberland County Council's Housing Operations Income Team is responsible for collecting £36,157,970.33 in rent in the financial year 2025/26. As of the 8th September 2025, there were 7,885 customers within the council's properties, of which 4,478 were claiming Universal Credit and 1,576 claiming Housing Benefit. Of the Universal Credit households, 2,674 were in arrears, with a total arrears balance of £1,254,544.75.

The report noted that the introduction of Universal Credit had brought significant changes to how housing costs were paid, shifting responsibility from direct payments to landlords to tenant-managed payments. This had increased the risk of rent arrears and financial hardship among vulnerable households.

The report also detailed the support provided to Universal Credit customers, including specialist advice to maximise income and benefit entitlement, and referrals to other agencies and services to help tenants manage their budget, reduce debts, and apply for grants or funding.

Work Programme

The committee was asked to review and note the Corporate Services and Economic Growth Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme and Monitoring Report 2025-26. The work programme set out the committee's terms of reference, and listed topics to be timetabled for future meetings, including:

• Regeneration Update
• Annual Workforce Report
• Debt Recovery Update
• Advance Northumberland Update

The report also summarised what the committee looked into last year, including the Energising Blyth Programme, the Borderland Place Programme, the Cambois Hyperscale Datacentre, financial performance, BEST workstreams, and apprenticeships in the council.