The Strategy and Resources Committee are scheduled to meet to discuss the council's financial performance, the progress of the Local Government Association Corporate Peer Challenge, and updates on the Sutton Civic and Town Centre Regeneration project. They will also review the annual report for Sutton College, the Resilience Standards for London self-assessment, and consider awarding a contract for cloud data centre services. Finally, they will look at the workplans for the Scrutiny and Audit and Governance Committees.

Sutton Civic and Town Centre Regeneration

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the Sutton Civic and Town Centre Regeneration programme. The report pack states that the programme includes:

• Creating alternative premises for council offices and the library
• Disposing of the existing Civic Centre site, Gibson Road Car Park and Secombe Theatre site for housing development
• Improving the retail and leisure offer in the St Nicholas Shopping Centre.

The report pack indicates that following a procurement process, Genr8 Kajima Regeneration Ltd (GKRL) was selected as the preferred bidder in October 2024. The aim of the preferred bidder stage was to quantify and understand the costs of creating a new civic hub, as the council was to pay for it. However, the report pack states that further work has revealed additional costs and risks that the council considers unaffordable.

As a result, the report pack recommends that the council does not enter into a development agreement with GKRL, and instead continues to develop proposals for housing on the current Civic Centre site and reviews options to relocate services within the town centre.

The report pack notes that the council developed key objectives for the regeneration, including:

• Promoting an attractive identity for Sutton Town Centre
• Increasing the town centre's economic resilience
• Creating enhanced civic accommodation
• Promoting accessibility
• Providing necessary social and community infrastructure
• Increasing housing supply, including affordable housing
• Delivering development that is close to carbon neutral
• Delivering a commercially viable scheme

The report pack states that these objectives aim to support the council's wider ambitions for regeneration of Sutton High Street and the town centre, the London Cancer Hub, and the delivery of affordable housing.

The report pack explains that the council and GKRL entered into a pre-development agreement (PDA) to better understand the costs of delivering the new civic hub in the refurbished former Debenhams unit. However, the work carried out under the PDA has revealed a significant increase in the cost estimate and identified risks of potential further cost increases.

The main factors driving the cost increases are:

• Additional construction and refurbishment work required
• Additional works required to the shopping centre to meet fire and building regulations
• The risk of additional cost increases as the design progresses
• Risk of additional costs when the construction contractor is procured

The report pack states that the council considers the additional costs and the risk of cost increases make the scheme unaffordable.

Finance and Performance

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the council's financial and other performance for the 2025/26 financial year. The report pack notes that the council continues to face challenges, primarily due to demand-driven services such as social care for children and adults, temporary accommodation for homeless households, and supporting children with special education needs and disability.

The report pack recommends that the committee notes the following:

• The forecast general fund revenue outturn overspend for 2025/26 of £0.456m, an improvement from the previously reported overspend of £1.262m
• The forecast dedicated schools grant¹ revenue outturn overspend for 2025/26 of £11.979m and the resulting forecast deficit balance of £22.552m
• The forecast housing revenue account revenue outturn underspend for 2025/26 of £0.352m
• The 2025/26 budget delivery update
• The forecast capital outturn variance of £47.819m underspend for 2025/26 against agreed budget
• The capital programme budget adjustments

The report pack also recommends that the committee approves the consolidation of the Neighbourhood Fund² and Public Realm Capital programme from April 2026 onwards.

The report pack states that the forecast overspend of £0.456m is made up of a £2.456m forecast overspend by services, partially offset by a forecast £2m underspend on non-service costs. Adult Social Care (ASC) remains the primary cause of the council's overspend, with a forecast pressure of £3.688m.

The report pack notes that the number of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) has increased from 2,469 in April 2024 to 2,675 in September 2025.

The report pack states that the council's 2025/26 revenue budget incorporated £12.024m of savings, with a current forecast for £11.149m to be delivered.

Local Government Association Corporate Peer Challenge Progress Review

The committee is scheduled to receive an overview of the Local Government Association (LGA) Corporate Peer Challenge Progress Review conducted in September 2025. The report pack notes that the progress review was overwhelmingly positive and found that progress has been made against all recommendations made.

The report pack also presents findings from a Residents' Survey carried out in the summer of 2025, revealing high satisfaction with the local area and council services compared to regional and national benchmarks, and results from the latest Staff Survey, which showed a strong and engaged workforce.

The report pack recommends that the committee notes the Local Government Association Corporate Peer Challenge final report, the findings from the Residents Survey, and the findings from the Staff Survey.

The report pack highlights the following observations from the Corporate Peer Challenge Progress Review:

• Progress has been made against all 11 recommendations made by the peer team
• There remains strong alignment between the political and managerial leadership at Sutton
• Good financial management and control
• Evidence of a positive and inclusive organisational culture in the staff survey findings
• Delivery of a residents' survey which indicates high levels of satisfaction with council services and Sutton as a place
• Positive inspection results, including Children's Services being judged as Good by Ofsted
• The council has taken strides to strengthen and promote Sutton's identity, including the Sutton, South London campaign
• Progress on delivering the Economic Growth plan, including a focus on district centres as well as Sutton High Street and the London Cancer Hub
• The council has been working closely with partners in the Charity, Community and Faith Sector, as well as health, to establish regular partnership meetings
• Sutton Housing Partnership (SHP) continues to perform well in key areas of housing management
• Positive examples of digital innovation and good progress to develop and embed the safe and ethical use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across the organisation

The report pack also highlights a number of areas for further consideration and key challenges for the council going forward, including:

• The need to balance its strong sense of ambition with what is affordable, given growing financial challenges
• The need for disciplined prioritisation to support the development of a new corporate plan
• The need for close scrutiny of the viability and deliverability of the Sutton Town Centre regeneration ambition
• A need to broaden the current transformation programme beyond the four areas of greatest financial pressure
• Keeping the effectiveness of local committees under review

The report pack notes that the findings from the Residents' Survey show that a majority of Sutton residents were satisfied with their local area as a place to live (90%), with how Sutton Council runs things (74%), and felt that Sutton Council provides value for money (59%).

Sutton College Annual Report

The committee is scheduled to consider the Sutton College Annual Report 2025-26. The report pack states that Sutton College serves as the primary adult education and skills provider for the Borough of Sutton, supporting a wide range of learners.

The report pack recommends that the committee notes the successful outcome of the Ofsted Inspection in May 2025, and the significant impact of Sutton College on learners and the local community, and the progress with the new College development.

The report pack notes that the Ofsted Inspection resulted in an overall effectiveness judgment of 'Good'.

The report pack highlights the following key achievements of Sutton College:

• The overall achievement for learners in 24/25 has improved by +3% compared to the 2023/24 academic year and +7.1% compared to the 2022/23 academic year
• The College has also made significant developments and improvements during 24/25 in supporting learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
• The adult Essential Skills programmes recorded an 88.6% achievement rate in 2024/25

The report pack also notes that the Step Ahead Service, funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), has exceeded all key delivery targets since September 2024.

Resilience Standards for London Self Assessment

The committee is scheduled to note the Resilience Standards for London (RSL) Self Assessment 2025 and the actions taken by Sutton Council to fulfill its role in emergency resilience. The report pack states that the assessment provides the council with a framework to evaluate its emergency planning and business continuity capabilities, and recognises the work the council has undertaken to deliver continuous improvement in performance across all emergency planning and resilience activities.

The report pack notes that Sutton Council is designated as a category 1 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, which places it at the core of emergency response with a defined set of statutory duties.

The report pack states that Sutton Council has demonstrated a strong overall position by self-assessing 10 of the 11 RSL criteria as 'established'.

Contract Award - Cloud Data Centre Services

The committee is scheduled to consider awarding a contract to AWS for cloud data centre services. The report pack recommends that the committee approves the award of the contract to AWS commencing 18 Dec 2025 for a total duration of 60 months.

The report pack notes that the council has used Amazon Web Services (AWS) for its primary cloud data centre provision since 2022.

The report pack states that the migration from on-premise infrastructure to cloud services is a deliberate cyber risk mitigation strategy that moves critical council services to modern, secure and continuously patched environments.

Scrutiny Committee and Audit and Governance Committee Workplans

The committee is scheduled to be given an overview of the work plans of the Scrutiny and Audit and Governance Committees. The report pack recommends that the committee notes the work plans of the Scrutiny Committee and Audit and Governance Committee, and that the work plans will continue to be presented to the Strategy and Resources Committee on an annual basis.