Agenda item

To receive a report from the Corporate Director - Finance and Resources on the final 2025/26 Budget and Medium-Term Financial Strategy (2026/27 to 2029/30) including the capital programme prior to its consideration by the Council.

Executive Councillor: B Mickelburgh.

The Cabinet has recommended to Council the approval of the overall Final Budget 2025/26 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2026/27 to 2029/30 as outlined in Appendix 1 of the report submitted which includes the Revenue Budget at Section 2 and the Capital Programme at Section 3.

With the aid of a report prepared by the Corporate Director – Finance and Resources (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Cabinet were apprised with details of the Final Budget 2025/26 and Medium-Term Financial Strategy (2026/27 to 2029/30).

By way of background, the Corporate Director – Finance and Resources reported that the final Government settlement figure had now been received and that this would not make a material difference to the overall budget proposals. Furthermore, it was reported that the Quarter 3 Finance Performance Report had also been included as an appendix to the report and that funding remained available within the Council’s reserves in anticipation of work arising from the Government’s White Paper proposals on Local Government Reorganisation. Reference was also made to the budget planning principles, the legal requirement for the Council to propose a balanced budget which had resulted in a small drawdown from earmarked reserves, the impact of National Insurance contribution changes and the statement made by the Corporate Director – Finance and Resources as Section 151 Officer on the robustness of the proposed final budget and Medium-Term Financial Strategy, including the Capital Programme.

The Executive Councillor for Finance and Resources then drew attention to the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Performance & Growth) where questions had been raised and responded to at the meeting relating to the Local Government Settlement, the Council’s approach to budget setting, a property within the Commercial Investment Strategy, the proposed increase in parking fees after the expected implementation of Civil Parking Enforcement and wage growth proposals which had been included within the budget.

Referring to the comments made by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Performance & Growth) relating to proposed changes to car parking charges, the Executive Councillor for Open Spaces, Waste and Street Scene stated that a holistic approach to this must be adopted once Civil Parking Enforcement was in place with a view to reviewing occupancy levels across each car parking site, options for introducing parcel lockers and reviewing the scale of fees at each site against its competitors. All of these factors should be considered as part of the Council’s review of its car parking strategy. The Executive Councillor for Finance and Resources responded that it would be timely to review the Council’s car parking strategy now that the timeframes for Civil Parking Enforcement were known. He also reminded the Cabinet that the car parks were also subject to business rates and expressed the view that the strategy would need to balance outcomes for residents.

In concurring with the comments which had been raised in respect of the Council’s approach to reviewing car parking charges, the Executive Councillor for Climate, Transformation and Workforce commented upon the need for the Council to focus its efforts on reducing overall net expenditure. Having commended Officers for their hard work in producing a balanced budget in 2025/26 and for their efforts with the Medium-Term Financial Strategy and Capital Programme, it was

RESOLVED

that the Cabinet recommend to Council the approval of the overall Final Budget 2025/26 and Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2026/27 to 2029/30 as outlined in Appendix 1 of the report now submitted which included the Revenue Budget at Section 2 and the Capital Programme at Section 3.