Decision Maker: Executive

Outcome: For Determination

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: Yes

Date of Decision: January 7, 2026

Purpose: The report provides an update on the Council’s 5-year financial forecasts and makes recommendations regarding the revised revenue budget for 2025/26 and base budget for 2026/27.   The Executive recommended, and the Council approved, in February 2025, the base budget for 2025/26, for the General Fund Revenue Account services.  The report sets out some revisions to the budget for 2025/26 and proposes a base budget for 2026/27 for the Executive’s agreement and submission to Council.   The report also gives the context to these budgets in the form of the latest five-year projections from the Medium-Term Financial Strategy.   Revised General Fund Revenue Budget 2025/26 The original General Fund revenue budget for 2025/26 set, for £15,050,100 and was a balanced budget without needing the use of general reserves to support the budget. The projected revised budget for 2025/26 is £15,282,400 which has a shortfall of £56,000 which will need to be funded from general fund reserves. This is mainly due to the changes to funding since the base budget was set.   Base General Fund Revenue Budget 2026/27 The proposed General Fund revenue budget for 2026/27 totals £16,327,500 which is an increase of £1,277,400 against the original budget for 2025/26. The figure represents a balanced budget with no requirement to draw down from unallocated reserves.   5-Year Financial Forecasts The 5-year financial forecasts for 2025/26 to 2029/30 is predicting future funding shortfalls in 2027/28 and 2028/29 with a small surplus in 2029/30. The 2 years of funding shortfalls can be met from the general fund reserves.   The Opportunities Plan 2025/26 continued the work of previous plans to help reduce any deficit the council was facing in future years. Some progress has been made on delivering the plan and the associated savings have been built into the budgets.

Content: RESOLVED that the Executive:   (a)  approves the revised 2025/26 general fund revenue budget, amounting to £15,282,400, as set out in Appendices A to C to the report;   (b)  approves the base 2026/27 general fund revenue budget amounting to £16,327,500, as set out in Appendices A to C to the report;   (c)  notes the five-year projections from the Medium-Term Finance Strategy in Appendices D and E, accepts the Budget Setting Principles, Fundamental Principles of FBC Financial Management and the use of reserves to address the future funding gap; and   (d)  agrees to submit the updated Pay Policy in Appendix F to Full Council for approval.