Agenda item

To receive a report from the Chief Executive, Corporate Director, Resources (S.151 Officer),and Director, Legal and Governance (Monitoring Officer).

Resolved:

Cabinet recommends to Council:

a)    That a net general fund budget of 2025/26 of £527.420m is approved;

b)    That the Council Tax requirement for the council be set at £368.818m for 2025/26 with a Band D charge of £1,886.99, an increase of £1.56 per week;

c)    That the Wiltshire Council element of the Council Tax be increased in 2025/26 by the following:

i.               A 2.5% general increase;

ii.       Plus a levy of 2% to be spent solely on Adult Social Care;

d)    That the Extended Leadership Team be required to meet the revenue budget targets for each service area as set out in Appendix 1 to this report, for the delivery of council services in 2025/26;

e)    That the Extended Leadership Team be required to deliver the revenue savings plans for each service area as set out in Appendix 1 to this report, over the MTFS period 2025/26 to 2027/28;

f)     That the changes in the fees and charges as set out in Appendix 4 are approved;

g)    That the Capital Programme 2025/26 to 2031/32 is approved;

h)    That the Capital Strategy set out in Appendix 2 is approved;

i)      That the Schools Capital Programme 2025/26 to 2030/31 in Appendix 3 is approved, including the proposal recommendations included and set out in that appendix;

j)      That the DSG budget as approved by Schools Forum is ratified;

k)    That the Medium Term Financial Strategy, the forecast balanced budget for 2025/26 financial year and the MTFS 2025/26 to 2027/28 is endorsed.

Cabinet approves:

l)      the spend against the following grants in Public Health expected in 2025/26;

i.               the smokefree grant of £0.553m towards enhancing Wiltshire's smoking cessation offer.

ii.             the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Grant of £1.078m.

iii.            the Drug and Alcohol Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant (DATRIG) of £1.215m.

Reasons for Decisions:

To enable the Cabinet to recommend to Council a balanced revenue budget for

the financial year 2025/26 and to set the level of Council Tax.

To enable effective, transparent decision making and ensure sound financial

management as part of the council’s overall control environment.

The Cabinet also sets out the final assumptions being used in the budget for

growth, inflation, demand for services, the estimated level of income from sales,

fees and charges and the level of income estimated from core funding e.g.

Page 109Council Tax, Business Rates and government grants as well as the level of reserves held and assessed by the council’s Section 151 Officer, as required, to provide future financial resilience.

This provides the council with a MTFS to deliver on the Business Plan priorities

and drives long term financial sustainability.

Cllr Nick Botterill, Cabinet Member for Finance, Development Management, and Strategic Planning, presented a report which provided details of the proposed 2025/26 budget and the medium-term financial strategy 2025/26 to 2027/28. The report also set out the Council’s Capital Programme 2025/26 to 2031/32, and the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) approved by Schools Forum on 23 January 2025.

Cllr Botterill reported that the approach taken in the last two years to set a balanced budget over more than one year of the MTFS period put the council in a good financial position going forward into 2025/26. There are no proposals or reliance on reserves to sustain service delivery for the next financial year and the budget proposals also support setting aside funding for Waste Transformation in the future to ensure delivery of the changes required to meet the environmental and regulatory requirements. He referred to the Local Government Finance Policy Statement 2025 to 2026, which would targeting funding to those councils deemed ‘most in need’ based on council tax revenue raising abilities and deprivation indicators and that the finance settlement for 2025/26 would be one year only. He was concerned that the one-year funding position brings much uncertainty especially with new grant funding allocations changing for 2025/26 and the basis of this being one where the council is unlikely to see additional funding from government.

The Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025/26 was announced on 18 December 2024, which provided some indicative funding values for 2025/26 only, with the final Finance Settlement expected early to mid February 2025.

Cabinet noted that the proposed 2025/26 budget ensures that vital services to the residents, businesses and communities of Wiltshire will continue to be provided, as well as delivering on the commitments set out in the Business Plan and will support maximising the opportunities to continue to have funding set aside and not draw from reserves to support future financial risks. It is key that, to be able to continue to deliver on the Business Plan the council has sound and sustainable finances.

Cllr Botterill was pleased that the budget setting proposals deliver a balanced budget without the need to use reserves funding, ensuring that the council is managing its finances in a sustainable way. It is also key that expenditure to sustain services continues so an additional £53m gross pressure has been added into the 2025/26 service budgets to support the delivery of quality services focussed on protecting preventative and early help services, delivering the best outcomes for the residents of Wiltshire. The report also set out the required increase in Council Tax for 2025/26, the increase in fees and charges and the General Fund reserve balance as part of a reserve strategy to provide improved future financial resilience.

Cabinet members noted that the budget was not sacrificing quality and references were made to Adult Social Care achieving a good rating in a recent inspection by the Care Quality Commission. The Leader explained that the Council was legally required to set a balanced budget and that the Council understood the current financial pressures on residents and therefore propose council tax increases under 5%. 

Cllr Graham Wright, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee, and Cllr Pip Ridout, Chairman of the Financial Planning Task Group reported that the Task Group considered the report on 24 January 2025 and the Committee considered the report on 28 January 2025, where a thorough review was undertaken, and many searching questions were asked about the budget. Reference was made to agenda supplement 2 that was circulated and published before the Cabinet meeting, which contained the minutes and report of the Committee. Cllr Wright confirmed that this document would also be considered by Full Council on 25 February 2025.

Resolved:

Cabinet recommends to Council:

a)    That a net general fund budget of 2025/26 of £527.420m is approved;

b)    That the Council Tax requirement for the council be set at £368.818m for 2025/26 with a Band D charge of £1,886.99, an increase of £1.56 per week;

c)    That the Wiltshire Council element of the Council Tax be increased in 2025/26 by the following:

i.               A 2.5% general increase;

ii.       Plus a levy of 2% to be spent solely on Adult Social Care;

d)    That the Extended Leadership Team be required to meet the revenue budget targets for each service area as set out in Appendix 1 to this report, for the delivery of council services in 2025/26;

e)    That the Extended Leadership Team be required to deliver the revenue savings plans for each service area as set out in Appendix 1 to this report, over the MTFS period 2025/26 to 2027/28;

f)     That the changes in the fees and charges as set out in Appendix 4 are approved;

g)    That the Capital Programme 2025/26 to 2031/32 is approved;

h)    That the Capital Strategy set out in Appendix 2 is approved;

i)      That the Schools Capital Programme 2025/26 to 2030/31 in Appendix 3 is approved, including the proposal recommendations included and set out in that appendix;

j)      That the DSG budget as approved by Schools Forum is ratified;

k)    That the Medium Term Financial Strategy, the forecast balanced budget for 2025/26 financial year and the MTFS 2025/26 to 2027/28 is endorsed.

Cabinet approves:

l)      the spend against the following grants in Public Health expected in 2025/26;

i.               the smokefree grant of £0.553m towards enhancing Wiltshire's smoking cessation offer.

ii.             the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Grant of £1.078m.

iii.            the Drug and Alcohol Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant (DATRIG) of £1.215m.

Reasons for Decisions:

To enable the Cabinet to recommend to Council a balanced revenue budget for the financial year 2025/26 and to set the level of Council Tax.

To enable effective, transparent decision making and ensure sound financial management as part of the council’s overall control environment.

The Cabinet also sets out the final assumptions being used in the budget for growth, inflation, demand for services, the estimated level of income from sales, fees and charges and the level of income estimated from core funding e.g. Page 109Council Tax, Business Rates and government grants as well as the level of reserves held and assessed by the council’s Section 151 Officer, as required, to provide future financial resilience.

This provides the council with a MTFS to deliver on the Business Plan priorities and drives long term financial sustainability.