Lead Member – Councillor Roger Evans, Portfolio Holder for Finance

Lead Officer – Duncan Whitfield, Interim Director Finance Improvement (Section 151 Officer)

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet Members:

A.   Ensured emergency action is continued by all Officers during the last quarter of the financial year to improve further the Council’s projected year end position. Such action should predominantly focus on reducing spend, increasing income, delivering remaining savings and significant mitigating actions to control in-year spending pressures.

B.   Supported the review of the Operations Boards, which have been in place from August 2025, to ensure these are delivering the greatest impact in terms of challenging spend across the Council. The impact of these boards will continue to inform future Finance Monitoring reports.

C.   Considered the projected spend over budget at Period 9 of £53.261m, adjusted to £50.745m following the release of £2.516m from the Financial Strategy Reserve.

D.   Considered the indicative level of savings delivery at Period 9 of £18.177m (30%).

E.   Considered the projected General Fund Balance of £5m if the Council secures Exceptional Financial Support in 2025/26.

F.    Cabinet Members noted the projected deficit on the Dedicated Schools Grant and the approach to reviewing this

To scrutinise financial monitoring at Quarter 3 and identify issues that may require further investigation by an Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

REPORT TO FOLLOW

The Finance Director introduced the Quarter 3 financial position, explaining that there had been a small deterioration since Period 7 and that the report set out reasons for the change along with planned actions. It was confirmed that monthly reporting would return for months 10 and 11.

Questions were raised about why certain year?to?date figures appeared disproportionately high, particularly in Children and Young People and Enabling services. It was explained that these figures were affected by grant income held corporately and only transferred at year end, which inflated mid?year totals. Members were assured that this would be clarified in future reporting

Further questions focused on the £39 million referenced in relation to revenue costs. Mannie confirmed that this related to capital expenditure already incurred on the North West Relief Road and Oxon Link Road and that if any costs were written down, they would then fall to revenue. The Council’s Exceptional Financial Support bid included provision for this

In response to a query regarding the effectiveness of the Operations Boards, the Interim Director for Finance Improvement  (S151) explained that the spend control panels had been meeting regularly, reviewing high volumes of payments, and that the approach was now evolving to restore more decision?making to Service Directors while the panels moved toward oversight and thematic deep dives.

Members agreed to revisit progress on spend controls in the autumn when the impact of changes could be reviewed