The Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Dacorum Council met to discuss the council's financial performance and consider the upcoming budget setting process. The committee was scheduled to review the financial monitoring report for the first quarter of 2025/26, and also to discuss the council's work programme. A report on the budget setting process was expected to follow.

Financial Monitoring Report Quarter 1 2025/26

The committee was scheduled to review the Financial Monitoring Report Quarter 1 2025/26, which provided an overview of the council's financial performance as of 30 June 2025.

The report indicated that the General Fund¹ was forecasting a surplus of £0.549m against the budget. This was attributed to the favourable performance of the council's treasury management investments, resulting from larger than expected cash balances. However, the report also noted pressures against service budgets and income targets, including:

• Environmental Services (circa £0.407m)
• Investment Property (£0.540m)
• Filming (£0.079m)

The Housing Revenue Account (HRA)² was forecasting a pressure of £0.463m, with pressures against repairs and maintenance due to disrepair, damp, and mould cases.

Capital budgets for the General Fund were reporting a pressure of £0.159m, with slippage³ of £14.076m, mainly due to delays in strategic capital projects, particularly the Leisure Investment Strategy. HRA capital schemes were broadly on budget, with slippage of £7.132m related to the Paradise Depot project.

The report highlighted several key variances in the General Fund service areas:

• Housing and Property: Pressures on Civic Halls and Community assets (£0.147m), agency costs for temporary surveyors (£0.135m), and a net pressure on the commercial and operational property portfolio (£0.540m).
• Corporate and Commercial: Increased external audit fees (£0.103m), lower than expected central government benefit and subsidy grants (£0.047m), shortfall in licensing income (£0.050m), and pressures against Electric Vehicle Charging Points (EVCP) targets (£0.55m).
• People & Transformation: Continued pressures against filming income budgets (£0.079m).
• Strategic Planning and Environment: Pressures on budgets within Environmental Services (£0.604m), including staffing pressures for the waste service (£0.335m) and repairs and maintenance on the existing fleet (£0.192m). Partially offsetting these pressures were underspends against haulage & gate fees and fuel budgets.
• Housing and Community: Temporary Accommodation was forecast to be on budget, due to additional resource allocation and work to reduce B&B usage.

The report also provided details on the HRA position, noting a £0.463m deficit. Key variances included:

• Lower investment income due to lower cash balances.
• Pressures on repairs and maintenance due to legal cases and compensation (£0.239m) and uninsured losses (£0.300m).

Regarding the Capital Programme, the report indicated slippage of £18.691m in General Fund capital budgets, primarily due to delays in the Leisure Centre Investment Strategy, Commercially Sensitive Schemes, and the Adventure Playgrounds Improvement Programme. HRA capital budgets reported slippage of £7.132m, mainly related to the Paradise Depot project.

The report also included a savings tracker, which indicated that of £1.121m of savings proposed in 2025/26, £1.096m were forecast as on track, while £0.025m were at risk due to EVCP income.

The report recommended that the committee note the Quarter 1 2025-26 forecast financial outturn position for the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account and Capital Programme.

Work Programme

The committee was scheduled to discuss its work programme for the upcoming months. The work programme included the following items:

• 5 November 2025:
  • Local Government Review, with Mark Brookes, Assistant Director, Legal and Democratic Services, as the responsible officer.
  • Fees and Charges, with Nigel Howcutt, Chief Finance Officer, as the responsible officer. This would be a review of the proposed 2026/27 fees and charges.
  • Investment Partnership Business Plan, with Matt Angus, Strategic Housing, Investment & Regeneration Senior Manager, as the responsible officer.
• 10 December 2025:
  • Budget Proposals 2026/2027, with Nigel Howcutt, Chief Finance Officer, as the responsible officer. This would be a review of the draft 2026/27 budget proposals.
• 14 January 2026:
  • HRA Business Plan, with Hannah Peacock, Head of Strategy Quality & Assurance, as the responsible officer.
  • Post Project Evaluation, with Aidan Wilkie and Shaj Choudhury as the responsible officers.