Agenda item

To consider the Council’s proposed revenue and capital budgets together with proposals for increases in Council Tax and the Adult Social Care Precept for 2026/27.

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

·  The administration presents a balanced budget proposal that protects frontline services despite £12.5m in funding cuts expected over the next three years. 

·  Current financial planning has been made significantly harder by the Government’s Fair Funding reforms, which introduced major uncertainty due to a lack of exemplifications and late publication of allocations.

·  The Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement arrived on 17 December, disrupting an already lengthy budget?setting process.

·  Fair Funding reforms will leave the council £12.5m worse off annually by 2028/29, broken down as: £2.42m (2026/27), £5.12m (2027/28), and £5.00m (2028/29).

·  The funding formulas disadvantage B&NES by judging it to have lower relative need, higher capacity to raise resources locally, and by redistributing business rates growth.

·  Despite these pressures, the council has developed a plan to close a £7.24m funding gap for 2026/27 through £2.59m in income generation and £4.65m in cost reductions.

·  Significant budget growth is allocated for social care: £5.51m for Adult Services and £4.07m for Children’s Services, even after savings, giving a net rise of nearly £6.4m in social care funding.

·  The budget includes a proposed 4.99% council tax increase (2.99% general + 2% Adult Social Care precept), equating to £90.97 more per Band D property (£1.75 per week).

·  This increase would raise £6.5m, nearly covering the net growth in social care spending.

·  B&NES continues to have among the lowest council tax levels in the South West and is recognised for strong productivity, ranked 5th most productive council nationally by the Municipal Journal.

·  The capital programme follows the Prudential Code requirements of affordability, prudence, and sustainability, with clear separation between Full Approval (£230m) and Provisional Approval (£280.5m) schemes, totalling over £510m financing.

·  Capital decisions are supported by a structured financing mix (grants, borrowing, receipts, third?party contributions) and a £2.9m corporate capital risk contingency.

·  Public consultation closed on 19 January, prompting removal of two proposals (Discovery Card charging and reduced recycling centre hours) in response to resident feedback.

·  Producing a balanced, prudent, and ambitious budget in a year of severe uncertainty demonstrates strong financial management and continued commitment to residents.

Cllr Manda Rigby seconded the motion and made the following points:

·  The budget demonstrates the administration’s ongoing commitment to investing in vulnerable residents, protecting communities, and maintaining frontline services, even as many councils nationwide face cuts.

·  The council’s corporate strategy prioritises prevention, with investments such as Culverhay and foster carer support aimed at improving services while reducing long?term costs—for example, reducing transport expenses by keeping vulnerable people closer to home. 

·  A £320K Community Safety growth request is essential for meeting statutory duties related to crime reduction, anti?social behaviour, substance misuse, domestic abuse support, public space protection, and serious violence prevention.

·  Of this funding, £164K will be used to recruit staff into the under?resourced Community Safety team to ensure delivery of critical services.

·  The funding also includes £35K for preventative domestic abuse work, focusing on reducing repeat incidents, supporting survivors, and providing interventions for individuals at risk of perpetrating abuse.

·  Additional investment will strengthen specialist domestic abuse survivor support, expand prevention programmes, and support the youth drug and alcohol project to help vulnerable young people make safer choices.

·  The growth item secures £25K for shared data analysis, enabling evidence?based planning and targeted resource deployment with partner organisations.

·  Collectively, these investments aim to build safer communities, reduce long?term statutory service demand, and deliver better outcomes for residents

Cllr Warren highlighted the work that is ongoing in relation to net zero and nature positive projects and welcomed the funding for this.

Cllr Hirst stated that this is a sensible and robust budget and welcomed the additional funding from WECA to provide improvements in highway safety and transport projects.

Cllr May noted that the funding for Children’s Services is a national challenge and stated that he is proud of the way the Council is supporting vulnerable children in difficult financial circumstances.

RESOLVED (unanimously):

(1)  To recommend that Council approves:

·  The General Fund net revenue budget for 2026/27 of £193.17m and the individual service cash limits for 2026/27 as outlined in Annex 1 of the report.

·  The savings and income plans outlined in Annex 2(i), funding requirements 2(ii), in conjunction with the Equalities Impact Assessment Report in Annex 3 of the report.

·  An increase in general Council Tax of 2.99% in 2026/27 (an increase of £54.51 per Band D property or £1.05 per week).

·  An increase of 2.00% to Council Tax for the Adult Social Care Precept in recognition of the current demands and financial pressures on this service. This is equivalent to an increase of £36.46 on a Band D property or £0.70 per week.

·  The movement in reserves outlined in Section 5.6 and the adequacy of Un-earmarked Reserves at £12.58m within a risk assessed range requirement of £12.00m - £13.20m.

·  To note the Children’s Services management plan update set out in paragraphs 5.2.64 to 5.2.65 of the report.

·  The Efficiency Strategy attached at Annex 4 of the report.

·  The Capital Programme for 2026/27 of £110.219m including new and emerging capital bids outlined in Annex 5(i), planned sources of funding in 5.8.10, and notes the programme for 2027/28 to 2030/31 and that any wholly funded projects coming forward during the year will be added to the Capital Programme in line with the Budget Management Scheme.

·  The delegation of implementation, subject to consultation where appropriate, of the capital programmes set out in Annex 5(i) to Annex 5(vi) to the relevant Director in consultation with the appropriate Cabinet Portfolio Holder.

·  The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) allocations and amendments outlined in Annex 5(vii) of the report.

·  The Capital & Investment Strategy attached at Annex 6 of the report.

·   The Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy attached at Annex 7 of the report.

·  The Capital Prudential Indicators outlined in paragraph 5.8.17 of the report.

·  The Annual Pay Policy Statement at Annex 8 of the report.

·  The Community Contribution Fund extension outlined Section 5.5 of the report.

·  The Council Tax Support Scheme for 2026/27 shown in the following link: 

https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2026-01/Council_Tax_reduction_scheme_April_1_2026_to_March_31_2027.pdf

and referred to in paragraph 5.3.10 of the report.

·  The Fees and Charges schedule for 2026/27 at Annex 11 of the report and support its publication following approval of the budget, with delegation to amend individual costs within the schedule in line with market needs, to the Director of Place Management, in consultation with the appropriate Cabinet Portfolio Holder.

(2)  That the Council include in its Council Tax setting, the precepts set and approved by other bodies including the local precepts of Town Councils, Parish Councils, and Charter Trustees of the City of Bath, and those of the Fire and Police Authorities.

(3)  To note the S151 Officer’s report on the robustness of the proposed budget and the adequacy of the Council’s reserves outlined in Section 5.7 of the report.

(4)  To note the budget consultation responses in Annex 10 of the report, and the Policy Development and Scrutiny (PDS) Panel feedback in Annex 12 of the report.

(5)  To authorise the Council’s S151 Officer, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Resources, to make any necessary changes to the draft budget proposal for submission to Council, including any changes arising from the final local government settlement announcement.  Any changes may also require the S151 Officer’s report on the robustness of the proposed budget and the adequacy of the councils’ reserves outlined in Section 5.7 of the report to be updated.