The Corporate and Resources Committee of Kingston upon Thames Council was scheduled to discuss the council's financial performance and future planning. Key agenda items included monitoring the revenue and capital budgets for 2025/26, and setting out the proposed Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2026-2030 and the detailed budget for 2026/27. The committee was also due to consider motions referred from the full council regarding amendments to the constitution and a stance against the far right.

Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring 2025/26

The committee was scheduled to review the revenue and capital budget monitoring for the financial year 2025/26, as of month 9 (31 December 2025). The report detailed the forecast outturn positions for the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account, Schools Budget, Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), and the Capital Programme.

The General Fund revenue budget was forecasting an overspend of £0.17m against a budget of £191.94m. Savings delivery for 2025/26 was being monitored, with £5.20m forecast to be delivered, of which £4.74m were rated as Green or Blue. The General Fund capital programme had a forecast in-year underspend of £5.58m, with a £0.32m overspend anticipated for the four-year programme.

The Schools budget was forecasting an overspend of £12.67m, leading to an increased accumulated deficit on the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Adjustment Account of £20.93m. The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) was forecasting an adverse variance of £1.36m, with its capital programme anticipating a £3.49m underspend in-year and a £4.66m overspend over the four-year programme.

Significant variances were noted across directorates. The Place Directorate had a substantial adverse variance of £3.73m, largely driven by pressures within Community Housing related to homelessness and temporary accommodation. Children's Services also reported an adverse variance of £0.99m, with pressures in areas such as Children Looked After and Health (s75) budgets. Conversely, Central Items showed a favourable variance of £2.41m, and the Resources budget had a favourable variance of £3.57m.

The report highlighted the challenging financial environment for local government, citing national economic pressures, growing demand for essential services, rising inflation, and increased borrowing costs. Specific pressures were identified in Adult Social Care, Children's Social Care, and Temporary Accommodation due to demographic changes, rising complexity of needs, and the long-term effects of the pandemic.

Medium Term Financial Strategy 2026-2030 and Detailed Budget 2026/27

The committee was presented with the proposed budget for 2026/27 to 2029/30, along with detailed information to enable recommendations to the Council meeting on 26 February 2026. This included proposals for revenue and capital budgets, the Treasury Strategy, and the Pay Policy.

The report outlined budgetary growth totalling £13.43m in 2026/27 and proposed savings of £3.43m in the same year. It also detailed the Capital Strategy and the detailed capital programme for 2026/27 to 2029/30. The committee was asked to note comments from the People Committee and the Place Committee regarding their respective areas of responsibility within the budget.

Key recommendations included approving the budget proposals and Council Tax for 2026/27, authorising officers to implement the agreed budget and service charges, and noting the Section 151 Officer's statement on the robustness of estimates and the level of reserves. Recommendations were also made regarding the calculation of Council Tax, the Capital Strategy, Treasury Strategy, Pay Policy, and the Schools Budget. The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget and capital programme were also subject to recommendations for approval.

Motion Referred to Committee by Council: Amendment to the Council Constitution – Member Call-In Threshold

A motion, proposed by Councillor James Giles and seconded by Councillor Jamal Chohan, was referred to the committee for consideration. The motion noted concerns raised in a Local Government Association (LGA) Peer Review regarding the current threshold for member call-in of decisions. Under the existing constitution, nine elected members or residents are required to call in a decision from a Strategic or Neighbourhood Committee. The motion argued that with only six opposition councillors, it was impossible for the opposition to exercise this mechanism without support from administration members.

The motion proposed amending the Council's Constitution to reduce the member call-in threshold from nine to six elected members, aiming to strengthen democratic accountability and public confidence. Officers provided comments, noting that the call-in mechanism is a locally adopted policy choice and that the current threshold of nine members ensures constitutional stability and that the process is reserved for matters of broad consensus. They also highlighted that other London Boroughs operating committee systems have different requisition processes, and suggested that a comprehensive review of the constitution should take place following the local elections in May 2026.

Motion Referred to Committee by Council: Together against the Far Right

Another motion, proposed by Councillor Andreas Kirsch and seconded by Councillor Thay Thayalan, was referred from the Council meeting on 15 December 2025. The motion reaffirmed Kingston as a diverse, inclusive, and welcoming borough, noting its history of supporting people fleeing persecution and the contributions of migrant communities. It also acknowledged the rise of extreme narratives, Islamophobia, antisemitism, and hostility towards migrants across the UK, citing recent violent hate incidents.

The motion proposed that the Council resolves to reaffirm Kingston as a borough of respect, safety, and belonging, working with local partners to strengthen community cohesion and respond to hate incidents. It also called for the Council to publicly support and promote the principles of the Together Against the Far Right campaign and to write to the Home Secretary urging the government to provide adequate resources for community cohesion work, protect the rights of residents with long-standing immigration status, and oppose hate crime and division.

Officer comments highlighted the Council's existing commitments, including its zero-tolerance approach to hate crime and discrimination, its updated Inclusive Kingston Strategy, and its work with partners through the Inclusive Kingston Borough Alliance and the Kingston Faith and Belief Forum. The Council also coordinates an Anti Hate Crime Action Group and has recently commissioned Stop Hate UK to support victims. The borough has also achieved accreditation as a Council of Sanctuary.

Urgent Decision Taken under Procedure Rule 30 - Contract Modification – Cloud Data Centre Services (AWS)

The committee was informed of an urgent decision taken under Procedure Rule 30 concerning a contract modification for Cloud Data Centre Services with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The decision was made due to the critical dependencies and tight timeline for transitioning from a current reseller to a new direct contract with AWS, which could not be resolved before the existing contract's expiration.

The urgent decision approved a modification to the contract with the current supplier, extending the contract term from December 2025 to 1 February 2026 and increasing the total contract value from £1,046,000 to £1,419,000 (excluding VAT). This increase covered additional service consumption and Microsoft Office licensing costs. The original contract, awarded in July 2022 to Bytes Software LTD as a reseller for on-premise data centres hosted on AWS, was for a three-year term. A previous five-month extension had been approved in June 2025. The report noted that the timeline for the data centre migration had been impacted by unforeseen issues, including power outages at the Guildhall and significant technology changes.