Agenda item

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The Assistant Director presented the report which provided an assessment of the council’s financial performance against its 2025/2026 approved budget.  He highlighted budget movement, the savings and efficiency plan, general fund reserves, revenue, income, capital, borrowing and investments.

The Chair thanked the Assistant Director for the report and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

The Vice Chair, Councillor Blunt referred to the 11% total spend and asked if comparative data from the previous year could be included.  The Assistant Director agreed to include this in future reports.

Councillor Dickinson referred to the longevity of loans and ask if redemption dates could be included in future reports.  The Assistant Director confirmed that this could be included in future reports and informed Members that this information was also included in the Treasury Management Report which was considered by the Audit Committee. 

The Assistant Director confirmed that the Public Works Board was a 12-month loan to support Capital Programme Housing Schemes and would be reviewed as required.

The Chair stated that an age of debt analysis would be useful for inclusion in the report.  He also commented that it was good that the increase in fees and charges had not impacted income and there was still demand for services.

The Chair explained that he had read in the media that the French economy was in trouble and he asked if the loans with BNP were to be reviewed.  The Assistant Director explained that a Risk Categorisation System was used and monthly reviews took place in liaison with the Council’s brokers.  The Assistant Director confirmed that for prudency purposes he would further investigate the French economy.

In response to a question from Councillor Spikings it was confirmed that the Council had professional indemnity and the Government had protective measures in place to protect investments should banking systems collapse.

The Leader, Councillor Beales thanked the Panel for their comments and suggestions.  He noted that the increase in fees and charges had not impacted income and he hoped that future increases in fees and charges would only need to be in line with inflation.  With regard to Major project investment the Leader explained that the Portfolio Holder for Finance was monitoring this carefully each quarter.

RESOLVED: That the Panel support the recommendations to Cabinet, as set out below and ask the Cabinet to note the comments made by the Panel.

CABINET RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that Cabinet:

1.     Note the forecast outturn for revenue and Capital monitoring position as at 30^th June 2025 for 2025/2026.

2.     Review and approve the new transfer of Capital items from Tier 3 to Tier 2.

Cabinet recommends to Full Council:

3.     Revisions as set out in Appendix F to this report to the ‘Capital Programme Process’ within the approved Capital Strategy for 2025/2026 are adopted.