Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 8 July 2025.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 8 July 2025 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To receive communications from the Chair.

There were no Chair’s announcements.

The Chair to report on any requests to address the meeting.

There were no requests to address the meeting.

The Chair to advise whether they have agreed to any item of urgent business being admitted to the agenda.

There were no items of urgent business.

Report of Assistant Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer)

Purpose of report

To report to the Committee the council’s financial position at the end of the financial year 2025-2026.

Recommendation

The Budget Planning Committee resolves:

1.1       To note the contents of this report.  

Resolved

(1)        That the report be noted.

The Assistant Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer) submitted a report to advise of the Council’s position at the end of the financial year 2025-2026.

In introducing the report, the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Property and Regeneration advised the Committee that as of June 2025, the Resources & Transformation and Communities directorates were forecasting an overall year end overspend of £2.291m, which was a significant increase from the forecast year end position of £0.296m in May 2025. The Council forecast overspend was mainly driven by pressures in Property and Environmental Services. Within Executive Matters there was an underspend on treasury of £0.35m. Given the last two years of dividends from Graven Hill, officers considered a further £0.5m receipt could be forecast this year

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Property and Regeneration explained that it was proposed that £1.1m of Market Risk be released from Policy Contingency to offset the remaining forecast directorate overspend until mitigations were put in place. This would result in a total forecast deficit of £0.132m.

In response to a Committee question regarding the forecast overspend, the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Property and Regeneration explained that discussions with those services with a significant forecast overspend would be considered at the Budget Oversight Group so that mitigations could be identified and service implications considered.

Resolved

(1)      That the report be noted.

Report of Assistant Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer)

Purpose of the report

This report is to inform the Committee of the proposed approach to the 2026/27 Budget Process, as approved by the Executive at its meeting 2 September 2025.  The report provides context and background information on the existing Medium-Term Financial Strategy and information on latest government announcements relevant to the Strategy.

Recommendations

The Budget Planning Committee resolves:

1.1         To note the Budget Process for 2026/27.

1.2         To note the base assumptions to be used for the 2026/27 budget.

1.3         To note that a five-year period for the Medium-Term Financial Strategy to 2030/31 and five-year period for the Capital Programme to 2030/31 has been set.

Resolved

(1)        That the Budget Process for 2026/27 be noted.

(2)        That the base assumptions to be used for the 2026/27 budget be noted.

(3)        That it be noted that a five-year period for the Medium-Term Financial Strategy to 2030/31 and five-year period for the Capital Programme to 2030/31 has been set.

The Assistant Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer) submitted a report to inform the Committee of the proposed approach to the 2026/27 Budget Process, as approved by the Executive at its meeting 2 September 2025. The report provided context and background information on the existing Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) and information on latest Government announcements relevant to the Strategy.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Property and Regeneration advised that there was an uncertainty in Government funding for 2026/27 and beyond, however, the Government had committed to providing a 3-year settlement. The Provisional Financial Settlement was not expected until late November 2025.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Property and Regeneration reported that the Government had consulted on phased relief and the use of ‘funding floors’. The planning assumption in the MTFS as at February 2025 was for the Fairer Funding formula and a reset of business rates to be phased over three years, beginning in 2026/27. That would remain until the Government provided a policy statement in October 2025.

In response to a Committee question asking for clarification on the funding floor, the Head of Finance explained that in the consultation, the Government had advised some Councils would be in a category of 0% floor and others would be in a minus 5 to minus 7% floor, The Head of Finance confirmed that Cherwell was proposed to be in the minus 5 to minus 7% floor. The Council’s response on this aspect of the consultation was that all Councils should be included in the 0% floor category.

In response to a Committee comment regarding  the process and that non-Budget Planning Committee  members  would not have an opportunity to  comment on the budget until it was discussed at Full Council in February 2026, the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Property and Regeneration advised that budget setting was  following the timetable that had been followed in previous years and this included meetings for Group Leaders.

Resolved

(1)      That the Budget Process for 2026/27 be noted.

(2)      That the base assumptions to be used for the 2026/27 budget be noted.

(3)      That it be noted that a five-year period for the Medium-Term Financial Strategy to 2030/31 and five-year period for the Capital Programme to 2030/31 has been set.

To review the Committee Work Plan.

Resolved

(1)        That the work programme be noted.

The Chair asked the Committee if any Members had any queries or additional items for the Committee Work Plan to which no response was received.

Resolved

(1)        That the work programme be noted.