This meeting of Wandsworth Council's Finance Committee is scheduled to cover a range of financial matters including updates to the capital programme, a new voluntary sector strategy and the setting of the council tax for 2025/26. The meeting pack contains reports detailing the Council’s current financial position and future financial outlook, and a range of proposals for members to consider.

Council Tax 2025/26

The report pack contains a recommendation for Councillors to approve a freeze in Wandsworth’s share of the council tax and to increase the Adult Social Care Precept by 2%. The report notes that residents in Wandsworth will pay the lowest council tax in the country under Wandsworth Labour. The report pack also contains the Greater London Authority's proposed 4% increase to its share of the council tax, and the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators' proposed 2.4% increase to their levy. The report highlights the Council's new “Access for All” initiative, the aim of which is to make the Council’s services fairer and to support those residents who are struggling financially. The report contains the proposed extension of this scheme to more council services. It also contains the results of a public consultation on proposals to implement the government’s new 100% Council Tax Premium on second homes, and to reduce the amount of time a property must be empty before it is subject to the long-term empty homes premium from 2 years to 1. The proposals are scheduled for implementation on 1 April 2025. These new charges were approved at the Council meeting of 4 March 2024. The report recommends that the Council use only the statutory exceptions to these premiums without adding any additional exceptions.

Proposed Additions to the General Fund Capital Programme

The Council adopted a General Fund Capital Programme budget in October 2024, for the period from 2024/25 to 2028/29. Since then a number of proposed additions to the capital programme, with a value of £164.3 million, have been made. The report pack contains a recommendation for the Council to approve these additions, along with an updated Committed Capital Programme. The additions include £31 million earmarked for highway and public realm improvements, including a new “Pride in Our Streets” initiative. A further £27 million is earmarked for a “Net Zero Decarbonisation Strategy”, and £30 million is committed to new leisure infrastructure, including the delivery of a new “Leisure Infrastructure Plan” to protect existing facilities and services and to enhance the leisure offer to residents. The report pack notes that the Council is in the very unusual position of having so far avoided the need to borrow to fund General Fund capital investment but that unless other sources and/or external funding are identified, the Council will need to consider borrowing to fund future General Fund capital expenditure. It states that the Council is an outlier in this respect.

Connect to Work

Connect to Work is a new supported employment programme that aims to help people with disabilities, health conditions, and other significant barriers to employment, find and maintain work. The report pack contains a recommendation for the Council to note the aims and delivery arrangements for Connect to Work and to agree that the Council’s Work Match service will deliver the programme in Wandsworth. The report proposes the creation of a “Connect to Work focused service that will complement the core jobs brokerage service”, funded by Connect to Work grant funding.

General Fund Revenue Budget Monitoring Position

This report provides an update on the projected outturn position for all General Fund services in 2024/25. It forecasts an overspend of £4.08 million (1.9% of the approved budget). The report notes the unprecedented financial challenges facing local government and that “[in common with the rest of the sector, the Council is facing significant demand pressures, in particular in relation to social care services and homelessness]”. The report forecasts a £2.685 million overspend in the Health Committee's budget, mostly related to adult social care services. This overspend is driven by “increases in demand for services as well as increased levels of care needs across all client groups.” The Housing Committee’s budget is projected to overspend by £6.114 million, driven by the increasing demand and costs of homelessness. The report highlights the high and increasing number of first-time placements into temporary accommodation.

Treasury Management Policy 2025/26

This report summarises the Council’s treasury management activity so far in 2024/25 and makes recommendations for the Council’s Treasury Policy for 2025/26. It includes a proposed updated Treasury Policy statement, the Council's authorised borrowing limit, and the minimum revenue provision policy. It also includes updated prudential indicators and the new liability benchmark for 2025/26. The report projects that the Council will begin 2025/26 with investments in excess of £580 million, and notes that the Council’s average rate of interest on investments is expected to be around 5.10% at year end.

The Council's new Voluntary Sector Strategy

This report contains a recommendation for the Council to adopt a new Voluntary Sector and Civil Society Strategy ¹ for the Borough. The report pack includes the strategy, which was “co-developed with over 100 VCS organisations and wider stakeholders”. It notes the importance of the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) to Wandsworth and contains the Council’s commitment to “reframing its relationship with the voluntary sector”. The strategy is to be delivered by the Council's Communities and Partnership's Team, working with a cross-council VCS Partnership Working Group, and a new VCS infrastructure and capacity building service due to be commissioned in July 2025.

Setting of Charges - Environmental Services

The report pack contains a recommendation for the Council to approve revised charges across a range of services, to be applied from 1 April 2025. It notes the impact of inflation on the Council’s finances and proposes a general indexation uplift of 2.2% on all resident-facing fees, with fees for businesses increasing in line with costs. The report proposes to freeze concession charges for the third year in a row and to apply Access for All discounts to charges, resulting in an estimated £5,000 loss in income in 2025/26. The report pack includes appendices setting out the proposed revised charges for:

• Trading Standards.
• Pest Control.
• Environmental Services.
• Licensing Pre-Application Advice.
• Street Naming and Numbering.