Agenda item

          The Board considered a report on the Council’s overall revenue net spend position as of 31 May 2025 together with a 2025/26 forecast outturn position. The report was presented by the Director of Finance and it did not focus on capital spending. The Executive Board had requested that a copy of the report be shared with each Policy and Performance Board for information, to ensure that all Members had a full appreciation of the Councilwide financial position, in addition to their specific areas of responsibility. In presenting the report, it was noted that the Council had to spend in budget by the end of 2025.

          It was shared with the Board that the Council overspent by £16 million over its budget but they only had £6 million in reserves. Therefore, the Council asked Central Government for £10 million to cover the rest which they agreed to do. As a result, the Council has not needed to ask for more money yet, but this will depend on the Council’s cashflow. Interest to borrow from Central Government was high at present at 6.2% over 20 years. The Council will ask to borrow more money if it will run out of money at the end of the year which is likely as it was set to overspend by £29 million.

          It was clarified that the Chief Executive Delivery Unit was the Transformation Delivery Team, Risk Management Team and some policy staff.

          The Board noted that the school saving costs should have been brought in before the schools started the new term as they would start the year by overspending.

          In response, officers stated that due to the time taken to organise the savings, they would not be implemented until September 2026. This should prevent disruption for school placements too.

          Regarding home to school transport, officers agreed to see how many of these pupils had EHCPs.

          The Board noted that more money was spent on agency staff for adult care homes, who had relationships with the residents, than the permanent staff and they received higher wages. There were also delays with residents getting their relatives into care homes. 

          Officers noted that agency costs were costing the Council £600,000 monthly. 

          Inspectors from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government will check the methodology for spending at the Council, but they had a backlog as 40 other authorities were overspending, and they had to visit all of them. The visit will likely happen in October or November 2025, and they will report their finding to Ministers. The Ministers will then give the final approval for the Council’s budget before it is set in February 2026.

          A Board Member noted that the Children, Young People & Families PPB wanted to look at the results of the consultation on school transport and make recommendations back to the Executive Board. After holding an extraordinary meeting, they made some recommendations back to the Executive Board with some rationalisation for their recommendations for savings. For example, whether taxis could be shared amongst some students with EHCPs and independence training so they would be able to make their own way to school. This would help manage demand without increasing costs.

          It was confirmed that the Transformation Board were going to determine whether Telecare should continue.

          RESOLVED:

          That Executive Directors continue to implement to proposed saving measures as set out in Appendix 3.