Lead Member – Cllr Roger Evans, Portfolio Holder for Finance

Lead Officer – James Walton, Executive Director of Resources

REPORT TO FOLLOW

RESOLVED: 

A.     To declare a financial emergency and direct the Chief Executive (in conjunction with the Council Leader) to instruct all Officers to take emergency action to reduce all non-essential spending between September and March to significantly improve the Period 4 forecast of a projected spend over budget of £35.169m. Such action should predominantly focus on reducing spend, delivering remaining savings and significant mitigating actions to control in-year spending pressures.

B.     Direct the Chief Executive to work closely with the LGA and the Council Leader to put in place an independently chaired Improvement Board, as recommended in the recent LGA Corporate Peer Challenge, as soon as practicable.

C.     To note that Operations Boards, to ultimately work with the Improvement Board, are in place from August 2025 to challenge all in-year spending.

D.     To note that the Period 4 position (as at the end of July) forecasts indicative savings delivery of £34.012m (57%).

E.     To note the projected General Fund Balance is now negative (£0.899m), indicating a potentially illegal financial position by the end of the financial year if no further action is taken F. Immediately direct the Chief Executive, working in collaboration with Cabinet, to bring forward a sustainable corporate plan for the authority to Council in December, reflected in a medium term financial strategy that sets out an approach to deliver a sustainable financial position within a timeframe of no more than three years.

To scrutinise performance at Period 4 and identify issues that may require further investigation by an overview and scrutiny committee

REPORT TO FOLLOW