The Corporate Scrutiny Committee is scheduled to discuss the city's budget monitoring, budget consultation plans, and work programme for the 2025/26 municipal year. The committee will also review responses to its previous recommendations and requests.

Budget Monitoring

The committee is scheduled to scrutinise the council's financial position for the year ending 30 June 2025, according to the Budget Monitoring Quarter 1 Report 202526. The report, presented to the Executive Board on 16 September 2025, provides a forecast for the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account (HRA), and Capital Programme.

According to the Public reports pack, the General Fund is currently forecast to underspend by £3.070m against the approved budget of £352.593m, taking into account the use of Exceptional Financial Support (EFS). However, the report also notes that £11.2m of savings included in the 2025/26 budget are not expected to be delivered in-year or at all.

The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) is forecast to overspend by £0.090m, increasing the contribution from HRA reserves to £3.419m in year. The revised Capital Programme has a net growth of £34.3m due to carry forward from 2024/25 and new projects, leading to a forecast underspend of £14.1m against the revised budget.

The report highlights a number of potential risks to the financial forecasts, including:

• A £9.7m risk related to Integrated Care Board (ICB) income, which is not currently included in the forecast.
• The reliance on mitigations, including over £10m of staffing vacancies, to achieve the budget.
• Potential impacts from rising costs of utilities, food and other operational expenses.

The committee is asked to make any comments or recommendations to the Executive Member for Finance and Resources, and to consider whether any further scrutiny of the issue is required.

Budget Consultation Plans

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the plans and methodology for public and staff consultation on the 2026/27 budget and 2026-30 Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP).

The Public reports pack states that consultation on the council's budget proposals contributes to meeting the council's statutory duty to consult and enable public, stakeholder, and staff contributions to inform the formation of the final budget. The consultation is planned to take place over a six-week period, from 21 October to 2 December.

The committee previously raised concerns about the consultation process for the 2025/26 budget and MTFP, particularly regarding engagement with isolated and vulnerable groups, the involvement of overview and scrutiny, the length and timing of the public consultation, and the understandability and engagement of the consultation for residents with lower literacy skills.

The committee is asked to make any comments or recommendations in response to the report to the Executive Member for Finance and Resources, and to consider whether any further scrutiny of the issue is required.

Recommendation and Action Trackers

The committee is scheduled to note the responses received to its previous recommendations and requests, as outlined in the CSC Recommendation Tracker 25-26 and CSC Action Tracker 25-26.

Work Programme

The committee is scheduled to consider its work programme for 2025/26, based on areas of work identified at previous meetings and any further suggestions raised at this meeting. The Public reports pack includes the Scrutiny Prioritisation Process and the Corporate Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2025/26. The committee is asked to note the work that is currently planned for the municipal year and make amendments to this programme as appropriate.