Purpose

This report sets out the Final Outturn position for the council. This includes the Revenue position across the General Fund, the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and the Dedicated Schools Budget (DSB). Performance against achieving the agreed Savings set out in the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) is also included, as is the Capital Programme and Reserves position.

The report also takes a decision to increase the Fixed Penalty Notice charge for Fly-Tipping.

Decision

For the reasons set out in this report and its appendices, Cabinet RESOLVED to Agree:

i)   To note the General Fund Balanced Revenue Outturn position of £491.434m 2025/26, as detailed in Appendix 1 and throughout this report.

ii)  To note the future net Full Year Impacts of variances identified for each directorate which total £7.788 of pressures at risk of reoccurring in 2026/27, and £4.000m of underspends likely to recur in 2026/27 as summarised in Section 17.1.

iii)  To note that £32.063m (82%) of 2025/26 Savings have successfully been achieved. £7.004m (18%) of 2025/26 Savings have not yet been achieved and have been rolled forward to be delivered in 2026/27.  If these savings cannot be delivered during 2026/27 then substitute savings will need to be identified and delivered, as detailed in Appendix 2 and Section 16.

iv)  To note the Outturn Reserves position of £152.232m (excluding Schools, HRA, DSG and unapplied grants). These include the unallocated General Balance of £52.090m, and the Business Risk Reserve of £24.932m, as detailed in Appendix 4 and Section 14.

v)  To note the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) underspend of £12.533m at Outturn and the HRA Reserve Balance of £52.921m, as detailed in Appendix 3.

vi)  To note the Dedicated Schools Budget (DSB) underspend of £6.252m at Outturn and the DSB Reserve Deficit Balance of £2.477m, as detailed in Appendix 3

vii)  To note the reduction in School’s retained Balances of £1.277m to £21.484m, as detailed in Appendix 3.

viii)  To note the Capital Programme Outturn position of £122.600m General Fund and £184.700m HRA, as detailed in section 15 and Appendix 5.

ix)  To note the Capital Programme slippage from 2025/26 into future years of £153.787m General Fund and £40.4368m HRA as detailed in Section 15 and Appendix 5.

x)  To delegate to the Council’s Section 151 Officer any actions arising from the audit process necessary to finalise the 2025/26 Outturn position following the completion of the 2025/26 External Audit.

xi)  To agree the proposed increase to the Fixed Penalty Notices for Fly Tipping detailed in paragraph 6.12 and 6.13 of this report, and the updating of the Council’s Fees and Charges schedule.

Alternatives Considered

Cabinet could choose not to increase the Fixed Penalty Notice and leave as

originally set for 2026/27.