The Barking and Dagenham Council Cabinet is scheduled to meet on 9 December 2025 to discuss a range of issues, including budget strategies, housing revenue accounts, customer experience, digital strategies, school consolidation, community endowments, and contract awards. The Cabinet will consider a new Digital, Data and Technology Strategy, and a Customer Experience and Access Strategy. They will also discuss the council's draft budget strategy for 2026/27-2030/31.

Draft Budget Strategy 2026/27 - 2030/31

The Cabinet will be presented with draft proposals for the council's budget setting process for the 2026/27 financial year and beyond, including plans for public consultation. The report pack includes an update to the council's Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2026/27 to 2030/31, taking into account any known changes to assumptions and forecasts since August 2025.

The report pack highlights that the updated MTFS forecasts a budget gap of £21.8m for 2026/27, rising cumulatively to £49.9m in 2030/31. The council uses advisers to forecast levels of core funding arising from the Local Government Finance Settlement, and these assumptions have been updated to reflect the anticipated impact of the Fair Funding Review 2.0¹. The report pack notes that the council will not know details of allocations until the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, which is due mid-to-late December.

The Cabinet will also consider the level of usable General Fund reserves, which is an important factor when assessing the level of financial risk that the council is facing. The final budget report to be presented to Cabinet and Assembly in February 2026 will also include the council's five-year capital programme, accompanied by a proposed Capital Strategy and the revenue impacts of those in the General Fund proposals.

The Cabinet will be asked to agree to consult borough residents and taxpayers on the levying of a 2.99% General Council Tax increase and a 2% Adult Social Care Precept to support the borough's most vulnerable residents, subject to those thresholds being confirmed by central government.

HRA Budget and Rent Setting for 2026/27 and 30-Year Business Plan

The Cabinet will consider the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget and rent setting for 2026/27, as well as the 30-year business plan. The report sets the context for the annual 30-year HRA Business Plan, considering changes to national policy and local issues.

The report pack notes that the financial year now ending has seen a number of significant changes to these and other variables which are set out in the report. The financial resilience of the HRA is projected to increase in the short and medium term due to changes in the legislative and regulatory framework for both rents and Right to Buy sales.

The report recommends that tenants' rents and those service charges which are directly linked to the basic rent are increased by the maximum allowable amount, i.e. 4.8% with effect from April 2026. This is in line with government's policy and is based on adding 1% to the inflation rate for the Consumer Price Index at the end of September 2025, i.e. 3.8%.

The report pack also notes that as part of the long-term `rent settlement' announced in the 2025 Spending Review the Government committed to introducing a mechanism to move to rent convergence, i.e. the harmonisation of rents for each property type by increasing the rents for occupied properties gradually to formula rent levels, rather than only re-setting properties to formula rents at the point of re-letting a property after the departure or death of the tenant.

Customer Experience and Access Strategy 2025-2028

The Cabinet will be asked to approve the Customer Experience and Access Strategy 2025–2028, which sets out a new approach to delivering council services that is accessible, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of all residents and customers. The strategy aims to transform how Barking and Dagenham interacts with its community, making services simpler to use, more efficient, and better able to meet rising expectations and demand.

The report pack notes that despite improvements in the online offer, the current customer service model remains heavily reliant on telephone contact, leading to high volumes of follow-up calls and delays for residents. This is unsustainable given the borough's rapid population growth, increasing diversity, and the financial pressures facing the council.

The strategy includes the principles of:

• Digital by Design (not digital only)
• Accessibility and Inclusion
• Neighbourhood Model and Intensive Support
• Continuous Improvement and Customer Voice
• Staff Development and Customer Promise
• Financial Sustainability

Digital, Data and Technology Strategy 2025-2028

The Cabinet will consider a new Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) Strategy, setting out how the council will make best use of emerging technologies to support its residents across all council services. The report pack notes that the arrival of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Large Language Models and associated technologies have significantly changed what are possible, affordable and reasonably foreseeable technological options available to the council, in order to improve services to residents and achieve internal operational efficiencies.

The DDaT Strategy 2025-2028 establishes five key pillars:

• Digital First
• Efficient
• Data Driven
• Ethical & Digitally Inclusive
• Secure

Procurement of a new All Age Care Technology Service

The Cabinet will discuss the proposed procurement strategy for the expansion of the Care Technology service, with the current contractual arrangements due to end on 31 March 2026. The report pack notes that to date, the service has already supported 5,000 residents and demonstrated up to £2.5m in demand management reductions, with the majority being cost avoidance rather than cashable savings.

The report seeks approval to use the three-month extension to the existing contract, from 1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026, to enable service continuity whilst the new service is procured and to prevent a gap in provision. The proposed three-to-five-year procurement strategy outlined in this report is to competitively re-tender the service, with an enhanced model to ensure the new service is fully operational from 1 July 2026 to enable business continuity. The service will be contracted on the basis of two lots in order to secure best value for money.

Proposal to Consolidate Roding Primary School onto the Cannington Road Site

The Cabinet will be advised on the outcome of the council's statutory consultation proposals to reduce Roding Primary School's capacity from 6 forms of entry (FE) to 4 FE and, as a consequence, to consolidate the school on to its Cannington Road site and to close the Hewitt Road site. This is in response to declining demand for primary school places in the locality of Roding Primary School.

The report pack sets out that in line with forecasts, many schools have been adversely affected by falling demand for mainstream places. This trend is highly likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Schools are financed predominantly based on pupil numbers; the need is to plan for the right balance of places to match demand and to ensure that schools in the area are financially going forward.

The report recommends closing the Hewett Road site in August 2026 and to transfer all remaining pupils and staff to the Cannington Road site from that date.

Community Endowment Contribution

The Cabinet will consider limiting investment into the borough's Community Endowment Fund, operated on behalf of the community by BDGiving, which invests funding and then operates grant programmes to re-invest the interest for the benefit of residents.

The report pack notes that the level of NCIL funding available is entirely dependent on income from developers, which can rise and fall in line with development rates in the borough. NCIL income for 2023/24 was circa £1m, but the 2024/25 income is half that amount, £546k.

The report recommends that the Cabinet agree to cap the contribution to growing the Borough Community Endowment fund at a maximum of £100,000 or 20% of the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) income above £300,000, whichever was lower.

Retrospective Award of Contract for the Servicing and Maintenance of Passenger Lifts and Associated Plant Equipment

The Cabinet will discuss a retrospective award of contract for the servicing and maintenance of passenger lifts and associated plant equipment. In 2019, a three-year contract for the servicing and maintenance of passenger lifts and associated plant equipment was entered into with Professional Lifts Services Ltd (PLS) following a competitive procurement exercise.

The report pack notes that although contractual payments to PLS have continued in line with the terms of the original three-year contract, the annual uplift element has not been paid. In order to be complaint with the council's Contract Rules and the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the client service has been advised that they must seek a retrospective approval of the contract with PLS in order for the 5% uplift arrangement to be applied and backdated payments made to PLS. The sum outstanding is £54,308 covering the period 1 June 2022 – 31 March 2025, with a further £23,266 estimated for the remaining term up to 31 March 2026.