Agenda item

To receive an update on progress against savings under the remit of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee that were approved in previous years but are being implemented during the forthcoming MTFS period.

Report to follow.

Cllr Connor chaired the Committee for this item as it related to the proposals for the Budget 2026/27 and MTFS (Medium-Term Financial Strategy) for 2026/27 to 2030/31.

Cllr Connor explained that the purpose of this item was to receive an update on the progress of savings under the remit of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee which had been approved in previous years but were being implemented during the forthcoming MTFS period. She commented that, because these were often multi-year savings and that the table showed only the current MTFS years from 2026/27 to 2030/31, it would be helpful in future for the table to include information about any part of the savings which had already been achieved in the years prior to the MTFS period. Taryn Eves said that a 2025/26 column could be inserted into the table. (ACTION) Taryn Eves commented that this was not new information and, because these savings had previously been agreed, they had been shown as a single line in the recent Budget papers and this additional table provided a more detailed breakdown of that line.

The Committee then raised questions about specific items in the table:

• Asked by Cllr Connor about the reduction in Housing Benefit costs (Corporate & Customer Services), Taryn Eves explained that £3.5m had been added to the budget for this in 2025/26 and the aim was to reverse this growth by £1m in 2026/27 and then a further £2m in 2028/29. This was why it was classified as an ‘Other Adjustment’ as opposed to a new saving. However, the £1m reversal for 2026/27 could now no longer be achieved and so this had been reintroduced as a budget pressure in the 2026/27 budget proposals. The proposed saving of £2m in 2028/29 would need to be kept under review with three further budget rounds to take place before this point. Cllr Carlin reiterated that it had previously been expected that the Council would no longer be administering Housing Benefit due to the transition over to Universal Credit. However, it had since become apparent that some groups, such as those in supported exempt accommodation, were remaining on Housing Benefit with some complicated cases still being administered by the Council.
• Asked by Cllr Connor about the reduced cost of internal audit contracts, Taryn Eves explained that the current contact with Mazars was due to end in February and it was forecast that a small saving could be made by competitively re-tendering.
• Cllr Connor referred to the Asset Management savings/income growth (Capital Projects & Property) of £450k in 2026/27 and £300k in 2027/28. She compared these to the £350k savings/income growth for asset management in 2025/26 set out in Appendix 4 of the Q2 Finance Update report (page 75 of the main agenda pack). After some clarification of the figures, it was understood that marginally higher improvements were anticipated in 2026/27 compared to 2025/26.
• Asked by Cllr Connor about the agreed savings on Digital Transformation (Digital & Change), Taryn Eves clarified that previous budget report had forecast savings of £2.8m in 2025/26, £2m 2026/27 and £2m in 2027/28. It had since been necessary to re-profile this forecast as the savings would now take longer. The two £2m sections were moved back by one year with no savings proposed for 2026/27 in order to allow more time for the first £2.8m section to be achieved.
• Following on the above question, Cllr Small observed that it appeared to be the commercial and income generation parts of savings that sometimes lagged behind. Cllr Carlin said that she shared this frustration and that, if there was an area that could deliver an income, the Council needed to finance this properly, for example in digital transformation which had taken some years to get to the current stage. She added that it was recognised corporately that the reliance on EFS was not sustainable and that cross-cutting savings and income generation from assets were necessary elements of stabilising Council services but that resources were required to achieve this. In relation to the digital transformation, Taryn Eves added that the team only went live in February/March 2025 with over 40 projects now underway and this work was now delivering results, although the forecasts for 2025/26 had been too optimistic. Cllr Carlin commented that, as the cost of procuring digital products for public services was so high, the benefits of delivering these bespoke programmes in-house with permanent staff was a strong position with which to achieve transformation.
• Asked by Cllr Connor about the total figures for management actions and budget changes at the bottom of the table, Taryn Eves said that this was based on the position in July with further management actions and pressures added through the new budget report that had recently been seen by the Committee.