Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director of Finance (copy enclosed).

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Finance presenting the proposed Budget estimates 2026 / 27 and seeking recommendation to the Council for approval, including the proposed level of Council Tax for the Maldon District in 2026 / 27.

The report and associated appendices to the report outlined the following:

·                forecast General Fund revenue budget outturn 2025 / 26;

·                core spending power 2026 - 29

·                other sources of funding for core services;

·                base budgets 2025 / 26 – 2026 / 27, with details of the base budget position set out in Appendix 1 to the report;

·                directorate allocations of the base budget;

·                savings;

·                revenue growth and pressure bids, set out in Appendix 2;

·                repairs and renewal bids, detailed in Appendix 3;

·                Council Tax calculations, details of which were set out in Appendix 4;

·                reserves, based on the proposals set out in the report, with Appendix 5 detailing the proposed use of earmarked reserves and general reserves through to April 2028;

·                other matters including:

·                the Great Essex Business Rates Pool

·                Greater Essex Council Tax Pool

·                Interest on investments

·                Local Development Plan

·                Future investment in Promenade Park, Maldon

·                Section 25 assurances, set out in Appendix 6.

The Director of Finance gave a presentation which highlighted the process for approval of the budget for 2026 / 27 and the key points related to that budget.

It was noted that the revenue budget proposed for 2026 / 27 met the Corporate Plan objectives of the Council which had been prioritised based on the advice of the Finance Member Working Group. This included an increase in the average band D Council Tax in 2026 / 27 of 2.99% in line with Government assumptions.

The Chairperson moved the recommendations set out in the report and these were duly seconded.

At this point in the meeting Councillor W Stamp advised that she wished to vote against recommendation (i) f as she did not agree with the Council borrowing £10m to have a reserve of £7m. This was noted.

In response to the debate that ensued, the Director of Finance provided Members with the following information:

·                The current staff base was included within operational base budgets and was therefore fully funded. However, where additional staff were proposed a bid to fund this cost from the transformation reserve was being proposed as a logical approach. If the proposal was approved the Chief Executive explained that monies would move from the transformation reserve into the general fund.

·                The Director of Finance explained how it would not be possible to sustain the proposed investment through the current year and the impact this would have on the Council’s reserves. This was why there was a proposal to borrow £10 million, and the Director outlined the impact if this was not agreed. As the Section 151 Officer he provided further details and referred to the Prudential Code which had been set up to allow Councils to borrow against an income stream. He explained that if the proposed borrowing was not agreed, there would need to be a reduction to the proposals for investment.

The Chairperson then moved the recommendations set out in the report on block. These were duly agreed. At this point Councillor Stamp reminded the Chairperson of her earlier request to have it noted that she did not vote on recommendation (i)f.

RECOMMENDED that the following be discussed and approved:

(i)             the reduction in core spending power allocation as set out in the provisional financial settlement for local government (set out in section 4.2 of the report);

(ii)            the base budget changes from 2025/26 to 2026/27 (set out in section 4.4 and Appendix 1 to the report);

(iii)           the revenue budget growth bids received and recommended growth and savings as discussed by the Finance Member Working Group (section 4.7 and Appendix 2 to the report);

(iv)          the repairs and renewals schemes proposed for 2026/27 (section 4.8 and Appendix 3 to the report);

(v)            the average Band D Council Tax of £238.95 (excluding parish precepts), which is a £6.94 or 2.99% increase for 2026/27 (section 4.9 and Appendix 4 to the report);

(vi)          the impact on reserves and the current policy for reserves, including of a minimum general fund balance of £2.6mas discussed by the Finance Member Working Group (section 4.10 and Appendix 5 to the report)

(vii)         the proposed policy on ‘excess’ reserves (as set out in paragraph 4.10.3 of the report);

(viii)        the advice of the Chief Finance Officer (S151 Officer) regarding the robustness of budgets and adequacy of reserves (section 5.6 and Appendix 6 to the report).