Agenda item

The report presents the financial monitoring information for the Council for the 2025/26 financial year, using information available up to the end of December 2025.

Cllr Mark Elliott, Cabinet Member for Resources, introduced the report, moved the officer recommendation and made the following points:

·  The Council is forecasting a £1.659m revenue overspend at the end of December, after using £9.83m in contingencies and £1.721m from the pay and grading reserve.

·  This represents an improvement of £764k compared with the Quarter 2 position.

·  Children’s Services remains the most significant financial pressure, with a predicted £7.4m overspend, driven largely by high residential placement costs.  

·  A strengthened Transformation Programme is under way in Children’s Services, including a placements taskforce, cost assurance work, and long?term sufficiency planning.

·  Adult Social Care is also under pressure, with demand for residential care up 10%, but forecasts a more modest £551k overspend.

·  The Economic & Cultural Sustainable Development portfolio forecasts a £3.136m overspend, largely due to lower?than?budgeted Roman Baths visitor numbers.

·  Despite lower visitor numbers, Heritage Services is still expected to return over £12m profit, supported by increased spend per head.

·  Housing Benefit claims for temporary accommodation have risen 53% year?on?year, believed to be linked to increased no?fault evictions ahead of the Renters Rights Bill.

·  Positive financial contributions include Parking Services overperformance (+£0.5m), favourable treasury performance (+£1.4m), and £1.2m reduced borrowing requirement due to capital project delays.  

·  The 2025/26 capital programme is forecast to spend £94.321m against a £149.537m revised budget, with most of the £55m variance due to rephasing rather than cancellation. Examples include slight delays to electric refuse vehicles and the Bath Household Recycling Centre, though both remain on track for delivery.

·  General unearmarked reserves remain at £12.6m, within the risk?assessed range.

·  Overall, the Council’s financial position remains challenging but improving, with ongoing mitigation efforts expected to continue reducing the overspend, though recovering the full £1.6m gap by year?end is uncertain.

Cllr Joel Hirst seconded the motion and made the following points:

·  Local government continues to face significant national?level challenges, particularly rising demand in Children’s and Adult Services for care packages for vulnerable residents.  

·  Parking income has exceeded expectations, providing a positive contribution to the financial position.

·  Prudent treasury management and a strong focus on delivering value to residents underpins the council’s financial approach.

·  B&NES remains a council with one of the lowest council tax levels in the South West, demonstrating continued financial restraint.

·  The council has successfully delivered £9.1 million in savings this year.

·  The Children’s Services Transformation Programme is highlighted as producing impressive outputs that help mitigate ongoing cost pressures.

·  These combined efforts are enabling the council to balance the budget and reassure residents that their council tax is being used responsibly.

·  The report reinforces the council’s strong and positive record of financial management.

Cllr McCabe highlighted the revenue that is provided by tourism which makes a contribution to keeping Council Tax lower.

Cllr Warren highlighted the fact that B&NES is a lead authority on climate and nature actions.

RESOLVED (unanimously):

(1)  To note the 2025/26 revenue budget position detailed within the report (as at the end of December 2025).

(2)  To note and approve where required the revenue virements listed in Appendix 3(i) of the report.

(3)  To note the capital year-end forecast detailed in paragraph 3.32 (Table 4) of the report.

(4)  To note the changes in the capital programme including capital schemes that have been agreed for full approval under delegation listed in Appendix 4(i) of the report.