Issue - meetings
First Quarter Revenue Budget Monitoring 2026/27
Meeting: 22/09/2026 - Cabinet (Item 38)
38 FIRST QUARTER REVENUE BUDGET MONITORING 2026/27 
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REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES
The purpose of this report is to inform Cabinet of the summary position on revenue income and expenditure forecasts for the financial year 2026/27, as at the end of the first quarter.
Additional documents:
Decision:
RESOLVED: That Cabinet:
(1) Noted this report.
(2) Approved the changes to the 2026/27 General Fund budget, as identified in table 3 and paragraph 8.2, a £753k decrease in net expenditure.
(3) Noted the changes to the 2027/28 General Fund budget, as identified in table 3 and paragraph 8.2, a total £337k increase in net expenditure. These will be incorporated in the draft revenue budget for 2027/28.
(4) Approved the debt write-off as detailed in paragraph 8.19.
REASONS FOR DECISIONS:
(1) Members are able to monitor, make adjustments within the overall budgetary framework and request appropriate action of Services who do not meet the budget targets set as part of the Corporate Business Planning process.
(2) To comply with the financial regulations in relation to debt write-offs.
Minutes:
Audio recording – 1 hours 48 minutes 43 seconds
The Chair invited Councillor Stewart Willoughby, as Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee for the meeting on 9 September 2026, to present the referral on this item. Councillor Willoughby advised that:
· The report presented to Finance, Audit and Risk Committee was in draft form, with the final version provided in this report to Cabinet tonight. The changes related to the treatment of leases and reduced the General Fund balance at the end of 2025/26.
· There was a decrease of £740k in the working budget for Quarter 1, but the ongoing impact was an £84k increase.
· There was a request to carry forward £303k into the next financial year, which was outlined at Table 3 of the report.
Councillor Ian Albert, as Executive Member for Resources, presented the report entitled ‘First Quarter Revenue Budget Monitoring 2026/27’ and highlighted that:
· The budget setting process had started and part of that would include a more detailed review of carry forwards.
· A lot of the carry forwards related to ongoing resourcing pressures.
· A debt write off relating to Housing Benefit was outlined at paragraph 8.19 of the report.
· An additional line had been included in Table 3 of the report which related to increased Planning Fees from December 2026 and the need to fund a joint position to transition a new Development and Conservation Manager, as the current employee was taking flexible retirement. This proposal would ensure cover was available and support the planning and development service.
Councillor Ian Albert proposed to approve the recommendations and this was seconded by Councillor Amy Allen.
As part of the debate, Councillor Sean Nolan highlighted that it was positive to be able to fund a position to cover for the Development and Conservation Manager whilst the person currently in this post took partial retirement. This would help ensure an effective transition for this service area.
Having been proposed and seconded and following a vote, it was:
RESOLVED: That Cabinet:
(1) Noted this report.
(2) Approved the changes to the 2026/27 General Fund budget, as identified in table 3 and paragraph 8.2, a £753k decrease in net expenditure.
(3) Noted the changes to the 2027/28 General Fund budget, as identified in table 3 and paragraph 8.2, a total £337k increase in net expenditure. These will be incorporated in the draft revenue budget for 2027/28.
(4) Approved the debt write-off as detailed in paragraph 8.19.
REASONS FOR DECISIONS:
(1) Members are able to monitor, make adjustments within the overall budgetary framework and request appropriate action of Services who do not meet the budget targets set as part of the Corporate Business Planning process.
(2) To comply with the financial regulations in relation to debt write-offs.
Meeting: 09/09/2026 - Finance, Audit and Risk Committee (Item 27)
27 FIRST QUARTER REVENUE BUDGET MONITORING 2026/27 PDF 261 KB
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR - RESOURCES
To inform Cabinet of the summary position on revenue income and expenditure forecasts for the financial year 2026/27, as at the end of the first quarter.
Decision:
RECOMMENDED TO CABINET:
(1) That Cabinet note this report.
(2) That Cabinet approves the changes to the 2026/27 General Fund budget, as identified in table 3 and paragraph 8.2, an £826k decrease in net expenditure.
(3) That Cabinet notes the changes to the 2027/28 General Fund budget, as identified in table 3 and paragraph 8.2, a total £387k increase in net expenditure. These will be incorporated in the draft revenue budget for 2027/28.
(4) That Cabinet approve the debt write-off as detailed in paragraph 8.19.3.
REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS:
(1) Members are able to monitor, make adjustments within the overall budgetary framework and request appropriate action of Services who do not meet the budget targets set as part of the Corporate Business Planning process.
(2) To comply with the financial regulations in relation to debt write-offs.
Minutes:
Audio recording – 58 minutes 02 seconds
The Director – Resources presented the report entitled ‘First Quarter Revenue Budget Monitoring 2026/27’ and advised that:
· This report was in draft form, and an updated version would be presented to Cabinet.
· Recommendation 2.2 in the report should state an £826K decrease in net expenditure to match the figure in Table 3 of the report, rather than a £662K decrease.
· The highlighted figures for Garden Waste Collection Service Subscriptions detailed in Table 4 were correct, and the Garden Waste Collection Service performance figures in Table 5 were detailed as 29,612 in Q1 2026/27 compared with 27,467 in Q1 2025/26.
· A change relating to lease adjustments and their classification as an asset was detailed in paragraph 7.3 of the report, but this could be subject to change for the Cabinet report.
· Overall, the revenue contribution for the capitalisation of the lease would be off-set by future revenue savings, with the 2026/27 saving shown in Table 3.
· A 3.3% staff pay award increase had been accepted by the union and would be paid to staff this month.
· There were some carry forwards proposed in the report and there there would be a review of all carry-forwards to address the comments on the year-end report.
The following Members asked questions:
· Councillor Paul Ward
· Independent Member John Cannon
In response to questions, the Director – Resources advised that:
· Bigger contracts such as the waste contract had several mechanisms that would need to be explored throughout the year to assess the impact against the budget for this year and previous projections for future years.
· Inflation assumptions would be reviewed as part of the Medium-Term Financial Strategy update in November.
· The approach of how the Council conducted equality analysis on savings and investment proposals had been in place for a while. However, the sentiment that a proposal could be adopted by Council without considering the equality implications was noted, and it would be considered how this could be done going forward.
Councillor Elizabeth Dennis proposed the recommendations with an amendment to recommendation 2.2 to be an £826K decrease in net expenditure rather than a £662K decrease, and this was seconded by Councillor Brown and, following a vote, it was:
RECOMMENDED TO CABINET:
(1) That Cabinet note this report.
(2) That Cabinet approves the changes to the 2026/27 General Fund budget, as identified in table 3 and paragraph 8.2, an £826k decrease in net expenditure.
(3) That Cabinet notes the changes to the 2027/28 General Fund budget, as identified in table 3 and paragraph 8.2, a total £387k increase in net expenditure. These will be incorporated in the draft revenue budget for 2027/28.
(4) That Cabinet approve the debt write-off as detailed in paragraph 8.19.3.
REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS:
(1) Members are able to monitor, make adjustments within the overall budgetary framework and request appropriate action of Services who do not meet the budget targets set as part of the Corporate Business Planning process.
(2) To comply with the financial regulations ... view the full minutes text for item 27