Decision

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

That the Executive:

a)  Note the Council’s draft outturn position for 2025/26 for the following revenue funds as set out in Appendix A:

i)               General Fund – overspend of £13.775m.

ii)             Housing Revenue Account (HRA) – underspend of £75k.

iii)           Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) - deficit position of £21.784m.

b)  Note the draft capital outturn position and indicative funding for the General Fund (GF) Capital Programme and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital Programme for 2025/26 as included in Appendix A.

c)  Note the treasury management Quarter 4 position detailing the activity undertaken during the final quarter of the financial year ending 31st March 2026 and the performance achieved set out in Appendix A to the report.

d)  Note the level of savings delivered in 2025/26 for the General Fund as set out in Appendix A.

e)  Note the performance of the Council as measured by the available indicators as at Period 12 (Q4) 2025/26, set out within Appendix A, Appendix B and Appendix C of this report.

f)  Approve the following transfers totalling £13.365m to the following General Fund reserves which are reflected in the draft outturn position.

• Smoothing Reserves – £2.652m

• Business Rates Retention Reserve – £7.766m

• General Reserve - £64k

• Adults Smoothing Reserve - £2.428m

• Burton Wold - £15k

• Climate Change Reserve - £440k

g) Approve the following transfers totalling £13.079m from the following General Fund reserves which are reflected in the draft outturn position.

• Smoothing Reserves – £5.971m

• Business Rates Retention Reserve – £4.858m

• Building Maintenance Reserve – £186k

• Regeneration Reserve – £100k

• Public Health Reserve – £693k

• Climate Change Reserve - £631k

• Insurance Reserve - £642k

h) Approve the use of the smoothing reserves to fund the £13.775m draft outturn position. The movement in reserves as detailed in recommendations F, G and H are set out on Slide 14 in Appendix A.

i)               Approve the inclusion of the 2025/26 underspend of £220k in the 2026/27 Budget which will be funded from the Smoothing Reserve (Children’s) for investment into the Families First Partnership scheme.

j)               Approve the inclusion of the 2025/26 underspend of £2.014m in the 2026/27 Budget which will be funded from the Smoothing Reserve for the following schemes:

• £712k Adult Social Care Case Management System

• £354k Education Case Management System

• £131k IDOX - Planning

• £817k Transformation Team

k)             Approve the inclusion of the 2025/26 underspend of £440k in the 2026/27 Budget which will be funded from the Climate Change Reserve.

l)               Approve the draft capital funding as set out in Appendix A.

m)          Approve the year end adjustments to capital budgets identified as part of the out-turn process totalling £2.858m as set out in Appendix D.

n)            Approve the capital carry forward requests for General Fund totalling £18.2m, as set out in Appendix D and the Housing Revenue Account totalling £10.7m as set out in Appendix A.

o)            Delegates authority to the Executive Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer) in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance, Efficiency and Change to make any non-material changes to the draft outturn.

p) Delegates authority to the Executive Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer) in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance, Efficiency and Change to review and realign reserves as part of the final accounts process.

Reason for Recommendations – to note the draft financial position for 2025/26 and consider the impact on this year and future years budgets.

The Council’s Treasury Management Strategy Statement (TMSS) is underpinned by the CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management (“the Code”) which requires that members are informed of treasury management activities on a quarterly basis each financial year. Full Council has delegated the formulation and monitoring of the Council’s treasury management strategy, policy, and activity to the Executive Committee.

Alternative Options Considered: The report focuses on the forecast revenue outturn against budget for 2025/26 and makes recommendations for the Executive to note the current budgetary position as such there are no specific choices within the report with the exception of transfers to and from reserves.