Purpose

To recommend a budget to
Full Council

Content

Resolved:
 
Cabinet recommends
to Council:
 

a)   
That a net general fund budget of 2025/26 of £527.420m is
approved;

 

b)   
That the Council Tax requirement for the council be set at
£368.818m for 2025/26 with a Band D charge of
£1,886.99, an increase of £1.56 per week;

 

c)   
That the Wiltshire Council element of the Council Tax be
increased in 2025/26 by the following:
 
i.              
A 2.5% general increase;
 
ii.       Plus a levy of 2% to
be spent solely on Adult Social Care;
 

d)   
That the Extended Leadership Team be required to meet the
revenue budget targets for each service area as set out in Appendix
1 to this report, for the delivery of council services in
2025/26;

 

e)   
That the Extended Leadership Team be required to deliver the
revenue savings plans for each service area as set out in Appendix
1 to this report, over the MTFS period 2025/26 to 2027/28;

 

f)    
That the changes in the fees and charges as set out in Appendix
4 are approved;

 

g)   
That the Capital Programme 2025/26 to 2031/32 is
approved;

 

h)   
That the Capital Strategy set out in Appendix 2 is
approved;

 

i)     
That the Schools Capital Programme 2025/26 to 2030/31 in
Appendix 3 is approved, including the proposal recommendations
included and set out in that appendix;

 

j)     
That the DSG budget as approved by Schools Forum is
ratified;

 

k)   
That the Medium Term Financial Strategy, the forecast balanced
budget for 2025/26 financial year and the MTFS 2025/26 to 2027/28
is endorsed.
 
Cabinet
approves:
 

l)     
the spend against the following grants in Public Health expected
in 2025/26;

 
i.              
the smokefree grant of £0.553m towards enhancing
Wiltshire's smoking cessation offer.
 
ii.            
the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Grant of
£1.078m.

 
iii.           
the Drug and Alcohol Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery
Improvement Grant (DATRIG) of £1.215m.

 
Reasons for
Decisions:
 
To enable the
Cabinet to recommend to Council a balanced revenue budget for
the financial year
2025/26 and to set the level of Council Tax.
 
To enable
effective, transparent decision making and ensure sound
financial
management as part
of the council’s overall control environment.
 
The Cabinet also
sets out the final assumptions being used in the budget for
growth, inflation,
demand for services, the estimated level of income from sales,
fees and charges
and the level of income estimated from core funding e.g.
Page 109Council
Tax, Business Rates and government grants as well as the level of
reserves held and assessed by the council’s Section 151
Officer, as required, to provide future financial resilience.
 
This provides the
council with a MTFS to deliver on the Business Plan priorities
and drives long
term financial sustainability.