The Budget and Finance Scrutiny Committee met to discuss the council's financial position, including the projected overspend for 2025/26, a preliminary assessment of the 2026/27 budget, and an efficiency review. The committee agreed to recommend to the cabinet that they arrange 45-minute meetings with each cabinet member before 21 January to allow members to scrutinise them at length. The committee also discussed the importance of explaining acronyms in reports, and the need for more detail in the mitigations section of the financial monitoring report.

2025/26 Quarter 2 Financial Monitoring Report

The committee reviewed the 2025/26 Quarter 2 Financial Monitoring Report, which forecast an overspend of £10.354 million, a reduction from the Quarter 1 forecast of £17.508 million. Key points from the report included:

• Adult Services is forecasting an overspend of £11.189 million, driven by increased service user numbers and a reduction in NHS-funded cases.
• Children's Social Care is forecast to overspend by £2.770 million, primarily due to increased costs for placements and family support.
• Inclusion is forecasting an overspend of £5.126 million due to the commissioning of external resources to support the SEND Priority Action Plan[^2] and reduce the Education, Health and Care Plan backlog.
• Home to School Transport is forecasting an overspend of £3.127 million due to increases in the number of children with SEND requiring transport.
• Facilities Management is overspending by £1.500 million, primarily due to savings targets yet to be achieved.

• Public Health is forecasting an underspend of £1.609 million due to effective budget management and strategic use of the Public Health Grant.

  [^2]: SEND stands for Special Educational Needs and Disability.

The report also detailed savings targets for each directorate, with an overall attainment of 80% forecast at Quarter 2. The greatest challenge in delivering savings was in Adult Services.

Councillor County Aidy Riggott raised concerns about the lack of detail in Appendix C of the report, which outlined mitigations for the overspend. He noted that some explanations were only two or three words long, making it difficult to understand the implications of the proposed measures. For example, he asked if a public rights of waste spend reduction was actually a cut in service.

Councillor County Gina Dowding echoed these concerns, stating that some of the figures were quite large and required more explanation. She also questioned whether the savings were continuous or just one-off measures for the current financial year.

2026/27 Budget - Preliminary Assessment

The committee then discussed the 2026/27 Budget - Preliminary Assessment, which highlighted a potential budget shortfall of £8.759 million. The report identified several factors contributing to the shortfall, including pay and price inflation, increased demand for services, and borrowing costs.

The report also included a schedule of savings opportunities, totalling £23.256 million for 2026/27, with further savings in subsequent years. Cabinet was asked to approve consultation on these savings opportunities.

Councillor County Azhar Ali OBE asked for clarification on the changes to pension contributions and how they would impact the budget. He also requested information on the value of 1% of the council tax base.

Councillor County Mackenzie Ritson raised the issue of council tax increases, noting that the government could penalise the council for not taking the full increase. He also sought confirmation that a proposed service redesign in adult services did not relate to the potential closure of care homes and day centres.

Lancashire County Council's Efficiency Review

The committee considered the Lancashire County Council's Efficiency Review, which identified £6.657 million in savings opportunities for 2026/27, with further savings in subsequent years. The review focused on areas such as pathways, processes and productivity, workforce capacity and skills, commissioning, market shaping and contracts, property and estates, and grants and income.

Councillor County Aidy Riggott congratulated Councillor County David Dwyer on getting the report to the committee. He asked for assurance that none of the proposed efficiencies were actually service cuts. He also requested more detail on the £5 million efficiency proposed for the highways and transport budget.

Councillor County Gina Dowding requested that future reports be written in less jargon and provide more explanation of technical terms.

Recommendation to Cabinet

Following discussion, the committee agreed to recommend to the cabinet that they arrange 45-minute meetings with each cabinet member before 21 January to allow members to scrutinise them at length. Councillor County Aidy Riggott suggested that questions should be submitted in advance to ensure the meetings were efficient.

Councillor County David Dwyer indicated that the leaders would need to agree to this proposal. It was agreed that the meetings could take place on the same day.

Councillor County Mackenzie Ritson asked if the 21st of January could be broken, as the coffee and biscuits had been booked.

Alex B clarified that it was cabinet's decision to make.