Ian Trisk?Grove (Service Director for Finance) introduced the Financial Monitoring Report, Month 6 and discussed:

a)     The Month 6 position showed an adverse full?year forecast of £8.754 million, representing a slight deterioration from Month 5, and approximately £1.9 million worse than the position at the same point in the previous financial year;

b)    Directorate?level pressures were detailed in the report, with adult social care continuing to experience increasing demand, including a step?change first noted at Month 4, and underlying increases in care home placements and domiciliary care costs contributing to a pressure of approximately £2.2 million;

c)     Community Connections (homelessness services) continued to face pressures due to the availability and speed of securing temporary accommodation, although demand was currently being managed within the directorate, with a reported pressure of approximately £0.9 million;

d)    Children’s Services continued to experience significant pressures relating to placements, creating a Year?to?Date pressure of approximately £3.7 million, though active work within the directorate was being undertaken to manage each placement on a line?by?line basis to ensure the position was carefully controlled;

e)     Customer and Corporate Services held a pressure of approximately £1.3 million, arising from facilities management work required following building surveys, repairs and maintenance, and an overspend relating to the Directly Elected Mayor referendum of approximately £0.17 million;

f)      Savings delivery remained a strong focus, with £6.5 million achieved to date, £3.7 million in progress, and £2.2 million identified as unachievable, the majority of the latter relating to Energy?from?Waste assumptions;

g)     The capital programme now totalled £372.311 million, with approximately £17.5 million reprofiled out of the current year to future years within the five?year programme, reflecting normal in?year adjustments as project timelines became clearer;

h)    Early reprofiling of capital spend supported improved decision?making by enabling better forecasting of the revenue implications of the capital programme, particularly in relation to treasury management and borrowing requirements;

i)      The Month 6 report represented the Council’s formal half?year position and highlighted the challenge facing the organisation during the remainder of the financial year.

In response to questions, the Board discussed:

j)      Concerns about the likelihood of achieving a balanced position by year?end, with clarification sought on the level of confidence officers held that the forecast overspend could be reduced to a manageable level. It was clarified that significant work was underway across the Corporate Management Team, in partnership with Councillor Lowry and Cabinet, to identify in?year mitigations including tighter service?level budget management, engagement with staff on deferral of discretionary spend, and increased visibility on the most significant drivers of demand;

k)     Success of the City Help & Support programme would shape medium and long?term demand trajectories, but in?year efforts remained essential to address immediate financial risks;

l)      The role of treasury management, reprofiled capital expenditure and other financial levers in helping address the in?year position, though officers reiterated that confidence levels at Month 6 could not be quantified due to the number of variables remaining for the final quarter;

m)   Queries regarding the Community Equipment Service, specifically whether the ICB (Integrated Care Board) would agree to fund additional pressures within the pooled Better Care Fund budget. It was clarified that the Council maintained a strong working relationship with the ICB, and that the expectation was reasonable for the ICB to contribute to the circa £300,000 required to meet additional service costs, as the service was jointly funded through the Better Care Fund and had previously been subject to collaborative financial review.

The Board agreed:

1. To note the forecast revenue monitoring position at Month 6, including the adverse variance of £8.754 million, and the further risks highlighted during discussion;

2. To note that the overall Capital Budget for 2025–2030 had been revised to £372.311 million, as set out in Table 18 of the report, with reconciliation and detail of the movements in the quarter set out in Tables 18 and Table 21.