Agenda item

The Committee received an update on the Council’s financial position and noted the Month 9 (December 2025) budget monitoring report for both the Council overall and the services within the remit of the Corporate Resources and Infrastructure Select Committee.

At Council level, a forecast net overspend of £35.9m was reported. This was largely attributed to service pressures, challenges in delivering savings and corporate funding assumptions, partly offset by contingencies and management interventions. Within the Select Committee’s portfolio, a projected overspend of £5.5m was reported, with favourable movements since Month 7 noted across a number of directorates.

The savings position was reviewed, with the majority of savings reported as either banked or on track. However, delivery risks and the deferral of some savings into future years were highlighted.

It was noted that, since the report had been prepared, conflict had regrettably occurred in the Middle East. Members acknowledged that this was likely to have an adverse impact on energy and interest costs and asked whether any sensitivity analysis had been undertaken to assess the potential effect on the forecast outturn and the wider Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).

In response, it was confirmed that energy costs for the current financial year had been protected and that no related pressures were expected to impact the current year. It was also confirmed that all borrowing was held at fixed interest rates, with existing debt locked in at previous rates.

In relation to savings, Members noted that a significant amount of work had been undertaken when setting the savings programme. Concern was expressed about £4m of savings being deferred into 2026/27 and the achievability of those savings. It was suggested that there may be an issue with delivery at levels below Corporate Director, and clarification was sought on how performance issues of this nature would be addressed.

It was acknowledged that the challenges identified for 2026/27 had been recognised. It was explained that all service areas were now required to produce fully deliverable budgets and that a more robust approach to savings delivery was being applied. Processes had been strengthened to ensure accountability was taken earlier in the financial year.

Members also sought clarification on what spend control meant in practice in managing the £35m overspend. It was explained that a review process had been introduced to validate all spend requests, particularly in relation to care expenditure, to ensure that spending was necessary, met statutory duties and delivered essential services to residents. A Spend Control Panel, chaired by the Corporate Director of Finance, had been established to review all orders. It was further noted that, with three weeks remaining until year end, expenditure typically increased and that robust controls were in place to manage this.

It was noted that significant savings had not always been supported by detailed delivery plans. The Committee agreed that all major savings should be underpinned by clear delivery plans, monitored against defined milestones. It was also agreed that each saving should have a unique reference number and be recorded within a single dataset, with monitoring at individual manager level to strengthen accountability.

The Committee noted that a restructure within existing resources could be delivered. However, concern was expressed that savings issues had persisted and that greater assurance was needed that improvements were being embedded. It was reported that departments were being upskilled in the use of Oracle and that new monitoring templates would be introduced from the new financial year to provide managers with improved financial management tools. It was confirmed that savings targets for 2026/27 would be smaller, to ensure they were challenging but achievable.

It was further reported that work was underway to strengthen spend control through improved systems and catalogue based purchasing. In relation to agency staffing pressures, it was noted that overspends had arisen due to vacancies in key posts and a competitive labour market. Actions were being taken to increase permanent recruitment, review pay structures and improve succession planning, although wider local government market conditions continued to present challenges.

The Committee also noted that links had been established with Brunel University in relation to students studying for a Master’s in Computer Science. It was reported that Digital already had arrangements in place involving students and care leavers supporting the Business Support team and that consideration was being given to extending this approach to Finance.

RESOLVED: That the Committee:

1.    Noted the budget monitoring position as at December 2025 (Month 9) for the Council.

2.    Noted the budget monitoring position as at December 2025 (Month 9) for the services within the remit of the Corporate Resources and Infrastructure Select Committee.