Agenda item

Report of the Chief Finance Officer / S151 Officer and the Finance Manager

The Committee gave consideration to the report and appendices (as set out at pages 126 – 164 of the agenda reports pack and 3 – 15 of the first agenda update) which presented the 2026/27 Revenue Budget, Medium Term Financial Plan and 2026/27 – 2030/31 Capital Programmes for recommendation to Full Council.

Councillor G A Boulter proposed an amendment to recommendation B to only increase the council tax rate by 2.5% instead of 2.99%, and not to increase garden waste or car park fees to be fair to residents in light of the cost-of-living crisis, and the unfairness of making local residents pay for the costs of local government reorganisation. Councillors queried what the impact of this proposal would be and whether the Council would be able to deliver a balanced budget.

The Chief Finance Officer / S151 Officer advised the overall impact would be £546K over the entire period for the MTFP and that while the budget for the 2026/27 financial year would be balanced, it may not be possible to balance the budget for future years. The Chief Finance Officer / S151 Officer and the Legal Consultant / (Acting) Monitoring Officer advised that these effects would be cumulative and with unavoidable future costs around homelessness and the impact of rent reform, then the Council could go into deficit. The Officers also advised that residents may face much more significant increases to council tax once rates are equalised following local government reorganisation as the majority of authorities would be increasing the rates by the recommended amount of 2.99%. The Chief Finance Officer / S151 Officer stated explicitly that she opposed this amendment in her professional opinion.

Councillors stated that the arguments raised were speculative and that residents needed support. Councillors also commented on the fact that the Borough’s town centres had bucked the national trend in seeing increased footfall, and that increases to parking fees could jeopardise this. Councillors also raised objections to the requirement that local authorities be made to front the bill for local government reorganisation, stating that this reorganisation was not wanted by local Councils or by residents, that the costs should be covered by central government and expressed their dissatisfaction with the imposition of local government reorganisation.

It was moved Councillor G A Boulter, seconded by Councillor N Alam and

RESOLVED THAT:

Recommendation B ii be amended to read “to increase Council Tax by 2.5%” and recommendation B vi be amended to read “The Scale of Fees and Charges as set out in Appendix 4 and approves an ongoing annual increase by the September CPI rate, except for garden waste and car park fees.”

For                  11

Against          0

Abstentions  2

It was moved by the Chair, seconded by Councillor K J Loydall and

RESOLVED THAT:

i)            The content of the report and appendices be noted;

ii)           The below recommendations as amended be recommended to Full Council for approval:

1.    The General Fund Revenue Budget for 2026/27 as set out in Appendix 1;

2.    To increase Council Tax by 2.5%;

3.    A housing rent and service charge increase of 4.8%;

4.    The HRA budget for 2026/27, as detailed in Table 4 and notes the HRA MTFP;

5.    The adoption of rent convergence at up to £3 per week when legislation allows;

6.    The Scale of Fees and Charges as set out in Appendix 4 and approves an ongoing annual increase by the September CPI rate, except for garden waste and car park fees;

7.    The Capital Schemes of the General Fund and HRA as set out in Appendix 5;

iii)         The below recommendations be recommended to Full Council to note:

1.    The MTFP for 2026/27 to 2030/31 as set out in Table 7; and

2.    The S151 Officer’s statement on the robustness of the budget and the adequacy of reserves as set out in Section 13 of the report.

For                  12

Against          1

Abstentions  0