The Corporate Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel met on Tuesday 28 January 2025 to discuss the council's budget for the upcoming financial year, review the ongoing rollout of a new library management system, and consider the panel's future workplan.

Budget and Council Tax 2025/26 and Financial Outlook

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to reviewing the proposed budget and Council Tax for 2025/26, alongside the council's financial outlook. The report detailed the council's Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), which outlined how the budget would be delivered over the medium to long-term, taking into account the current economic climate, sustained inflation, and increased demand for essential services, particularly in Social Care.

The council aimed to deliver a balanced budget for 2025/26, with a projected budget gap in subsequent years that was expected to reduce as income growth and efficiencies were factored in. The report highlighted that the council revenue budget required £27.62 million in growth, to be funded through increases in Council Tax, business rates, income, and savings plans.

A key recommendation was to increase general Council Tax by 2.99% and the Adult Social Care Precept by 2% for 2025/26. This would result in a total proposed Band D Council Tax for Bath and North East Somerset Council of £1,823.06, an overall increase of 4.99% or £86.64 per Band D property. The proposed net revenue budget for 2025/26 was £151.71 million.

The report also detailed various government grants and their impact on the council's funding, including the Revenue Support Grant, Social Care Grant, and the New Homes Bonus. It addressed the significant pressures on Children's Services, noting an increase in looked-after children, complexity of needs, and unfavourable external market conditions. The report also outlined the council's approach to savings and income generation, with plans totalling £14.01 million for 2025/26.

Furthermore, the report included the Section 151 Officer's advice on the robustness of the budget estimates and the adequacy of reserves, concluding that the estimates were robust and the budget was lawful. The capital programme for 2025/26 to 2029/30 was also presented, outlining new and emerging schemes.

New Library System Roll Out - Update

The panel received an update on the rollout of the new library management IT system, Spark, which was implemented across B&NES libraries on 3 June 2024. The report detailed that the system had experienced significant performance problems, including slow running and system crashes, which had negatively impacted customers, staff, and volunteers. These issues had led to delays in the rollout of planned functionalities.

The report presented two proposals for the panel's consideration:

• Proposal 1: Continue working with the LibrariesWest Consortium and the LibrariesWest Board to improve the Library Management System. This option would retain access to consortium benefits such as buying power and a large library stock, but would make the council reliant on the LibrariesWest Board for liaising with the supplier, Axiell.
• Proposal 2: Provide notice to the LibrariesWest Consortium for B&NES to withdraw. This would give B&NES full control over its library stock and IT systems but would result in significantly increased costs and a reduced library stock and digital access.

The report noted that Axiell had acknowledged service delivery issues in 2024 and was implementing systems to prevent recurrence. The LibrariesWest Board was continuing discussions with Axiell regarding contract management and service credits.

Panel Workplan

The panel reviewed its workplan for the upcoming months, which included items such as the Aequus Company Performance Report, Capital Programme Update