This meeting will primarily discuss the Council’s financial performance in the second quarter of the financial year 2024/25, the proposed budget for 2025/26, and the projects scheduled to be carried out by the Executive. The meeting will also receive an update from the Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency.¹

The MVDA is an infrastructure organisation that provides advice and support to voluntary and community organisations in Middlesbrough.

The Council's Finances

The documents for the meeting include reports on the Council's Revenue and Capital budgets. The revenue budget report pack contains a forecast of how much the Council expects to spend in different areas, compared to the budget that was agreed for those areas.

The report states that,

The forecast 2024/25 revenue outturn as at Quarter Two is a year-end overspend of £1.382m (0.97%), and whilst this is an improvement from the £3.742m reported at Quarter One there is a need to take further management action in consultation with Executive Members to control expenditure within the approved budget of £143.190m.

The budget report pack contains a draft budget for the financial year 2025/26, and describes the process through which the budget will be determined.

It states that,

The Council’s financial position remains fragile given its low level of reserves resulting from historical spending in excess of annual income streams. It is essential that there is continued focus upon cost reduction and growth of income streams in the short term underpinned by a resolve to protect and rebuild revenue reserves in line with the Reserves Policy approved by Council on 8 March 2024.

The capital budget report pack contains a list of capital projects that the Council could fund, and their associated costs.

It says that,

The 2024/25 Capital Programme forecast year-end outturn of £72.546m at Quarter Two is a reduction of £34.165m from the revised £106.711m budget. This is largely due to slippage of planned expenditure from 2024/25 into 2025/26 and 2026/27.

The Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency (MVDA)

The report pack contains minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Board's meeting on 20 November 2024, which included a presentation from Mark Davis, Chief Executive Officer of the MVDA.

The minutes say that:

Locally, there were around 800 VCOs registered with MVDA, with approximately 600 of those being particularly active in Middlesbrough …

97% of those VCOs had volunteers with 18% having 50 or more volunteers.

The Executive Forward Work Programme

The report pack contains a list of reports that are scheduled to be submitted to the Executive. It includes items like:

• A report on the SHiFT programme², due to be submitted on 5 March 2025
• A report on the potential future uses of Levick Court, due to be submitted on 5 February 2025
• A report on the auto-enrolment of children for free school meals and the maximisation of pupil premium funding, due to be submitted on 5 March 2025

The report pack also contains an update on the Council's plans for the future of cemetery provision in the borough.