David Hamilton | Councillor for Wallington & Downend, Fareham

General Fund Revenue Budgets & Finance Strategy

From: Executive - Wednesday, 7th January, 2026 6.00 pm - January 07, 2026

The report provides an update on the Council’s 5-year financial forecasts and makes recommendations regarding the revised revenue budget for 2025/26 and base budget for 2026/27. The Executive recommended, and the Council approved, in February 2025, the base budget for 2025/26, for the General Fund Revenue Account services. The report sets out some revisions to the budget for 2025/26 and proposes a base budget for 2026/27 for the Executive’s agreement and submission to Council. The report also gives the context to these budgets in the form of the latest five-year projections from the Medium-Term Financial Strategy. Revised General Fund Revenue Budget 2025/26 The original General Fund revenue budget for 2025/26 set, for £15,050,100 and was a balanced budget without needing the use of general reserves to support the budget. The projected revised budget for 2025/26 is £15,282,400 which has a shortfall of £56,000 which will need to be funded from general fund reserves. This is mainly due to the changes to funding since the base budget was set. Base General Fund Revenue Budget 2026/27 The proposed General Fund revenue budget for 2026/27 totals £16,327,500 which is an increase of £1,277,400 against the original budget for 2025/26. The figure represents a balanced budget with no requirement to draw down from unallocated reserves. 5-Year Financial Forecasts The 5-year financial forecasts for 2025/26 to 2029/30 is predicting future funding shortfalls in 2027/28 and 2028/29 with a small surplus in 2029/30. The 2 years of funding shortfalls can be met from the general fund reserves. The Opportunities Plan 2025/26 continued the work of previous plans to help reduce any deficit the council was facing in future years. Some progress has been made on delivering the plan and the associated savings have been built into the budgets.

For Determination

General Fund Fees and Charges

From: Executive - Wednesday, 7th January, 2026 6.00 pm - January 07, 2026

...approved the General Fund fees and charges for 2026/27, with an amendment to remove the administration fee for changing bin sizes for garden waste subscriptions, and also approved operational fees and charges for Solent Airport and trade waste collection.

For Determination

Vulnerability Policy - Adoption

From: Executive - Wednesday, 7th January, 2026 6.00 pm - January 07, 2026

To update the Executive on the outcome of the Fareham Borough Council Vulnerability Policy and seek approval for adoption. At its meeting on 1 September 2025, the Executive approved the Fareham Borough Council Vulnerability Policy for 6 weeks public consultation. The report summaries the outcome of the consultation as well as outlining the updates made to the Council’s Safeguarding Policy. This is to reflect the adoption of the Vulnerability Policy.

For Determination

Capital Programme and Capital Strategy

From: Executive - Wednesday, 7th January, 2026 6.00 pm - January 07, 2026

The report considers the Capital Strategy for 2026/27, prior to its submission to the Council for approval. Regulations require the Council to prepare and formally approve a Capital Strategy. The document for 2026/27 is attached as Appendix A to this report for consideration by the Executive before being submitted to Council for approval. The Capital Strategy gives a high-level overview of how capital expenditure, capital financing, asset management and treasury management activity contribute to the provision of services along with an overview of how associated risk is managed and the implications for future financial sustainability. The Capital Strategy reflects individual projects that have been approved by the Executive in the year and the latest Corporate Strategy which was last reviewed in October 2025. The Corporate Strategy sets out the corporate priorities and prioritises corporate projects so that the Council’s limited resources are allocated to projects according to their importance, deliverability and continued relevance in the light of Local Government Reorganisation. Corporate priorities requiring capital funding are highlighted throughout the Capital Strategy. The main highlights in the Capital Strategy are: i) The 5-year programme contains capital expenditure of £87 million (compared to £85.9 million in the previous Strategy). £54 million of this relates to new affordable housing developments and improvements to existing stock. Other key schemes included are: · Solent Airport and Daedalus projects · Vehicle Replacement Programme · Holly Hill Woodland Park Restoration · Hook Recreation Solar Farm ii) New schemes that are proposed since the 2025/26 Capital Strategy, which have not yet been presented to the Executive Committee for approval are listed at paragraph 32. iii) There is currently minimal provision in the programme for Town Centre Regeneration, the Civic Offices Asset Management Plan, infrastructure investment at Daedalus, the Environment Strategy or Fareham Park Vision which will be subject to separate future reports ensuring the funding approach aligns with the latest financial position and available resources. iv) The revised level of capital expenditure estimated for 2025/26 is £24.8 million (previously £28 million). The current estimate is that £4.6 million of the spend will be met by new borrowing which is below the Operational Borrowing Boundary set in the Strategy. v) The funding of the full 5-year Strategy relies on forecasts of resources that are not yet in place. These total £61 million (70% of the programme). vi) The capital programme includes £27.4 million of asset management plan improvements. However, there are a number of pressures highlighted in the Capital Strategy for asset management and replacement plans that are not currently included. vii) An assessment of the Council’s commercial investment property portfolio is included in the Strategy and shows gross income of £20.4 million since 2013 at an average yield of 6.1%. viii) The total of the Council’s investment property portfolio is estimated to have a value of £66.6 million. A separate report proposing the Treasury Management Strategy and Investment Strategy for 2026/27 will be presented at the February meeting of the Executive.

For Determination

Response to Consultation: Local Government Reform

From: Executive - Wednesday, 7th January, 2026 6.00 pm - January 07, 2026

...agreed the draft consultation response supporting option 1A of the five-unitary model for local government reorganisation and delegated authority for minor amendments.

For Determination

Councillor David Hamilton

Activity Timeline

Meetings Attended ^{Note this may include planned future meetings.}

Decisions from Meetings

General Fund Revenue Budgets & Finance Strategy

General Fund Fees and Charges

Vulnerability Policy - Adoption

Capital Programme and Capital Strategy

Response to Consultation: Local Government Reform

Summary

Councillor David Hamilton

Activity Timeline

Meetings Attended Note this may include planned future meetings.

Decisions from Meetings

General Fund Revenue Budgets & Finance Strategy

General Fund Fees and Charges

Vulnerability Policy - Adoption

Capital Programme and Capital Strategy

Response to Consultation: Local Government Reform

Summary

Meetings Attended ^{Note this may include planned future meetings.}