Agenda item

The Leader introduced the report and moved the recommendations as set out by Cabinet for the 2026/27 General Fund Revenue Budget and Capital Programme. The Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2026/27 to 2030/31, Capital Strategy for 2026/36, Treasury Management Strategy for 2026/27, Investment Strategy 2026/27 and Commercial Strategy for 2026/27 were also recommended for approval.

 

The Leader stated that there would again be a below inflation Council Tax increase of 1.99%.  The Efficiency Board had ensured that the budget gap of £1.599m had been filled. Appendix 4 of the report detailed saving measures, including good housekeeping, efficiencies and no reduction to front line services.

 

The public consultation had shown that town centre regeneration, street cleaning, refuse collection and recycling, parks and open spaces keeping Council Tax low. The Leader said that the budget reflected those priorities.

 

Car park charges on surface level car parks would be frozen as would sports fees for outside sports including tennis, bowling, football and rugby for the year ahead. Support would be added for Newcastle’s bid to become a town of culture, from the Civic Growth Fund.

 

Councillor Sweeney seconded the recommendations and stated that the budget had been scrutinised at the previous two meetings of the Finance, Assets and Performance Scrutiny Committee.  Councillor Sweeney thanked the Finance Team for the work that had gone into it. 

 

It was forecast that the Council would achieve a balanced outturn for 2025/26.

 

The Civic Growth Fund would provide £250,000 investment into the Council’s Corporate Priorities. £125,000 would be used within place development on initiatives and boosting footfall in the town centre. Environmental sustainability within the Borough would be boosted by £75,000 and £50,000 would continue to be allocated to the digital programme.

 

Councillor Stubbs said that he had several serious concerns including: a lack of responsiveness to scrutiny; continued reliance on optimistic assumptions; a growing exposure to borrowing and capital programme risk; the fact that the Civic Growth Fund had had little scrutiny; and that the public consultation had attracted 25 responses.

 

Councillor Parker arrived at 7.34pm.

 

Councillor Whieldon stated that, despite difficult circumstances, the Council had managed to keep the Council Tax low and protect services. Very few people realised how much the Council had done under the current administration.

 

Councillor Lewis asked what modelling had been carried out to test whether higher charges would reduce usage and how it would be tracked.

 

Councillor Paul Waring thanked officers for producing the budget which had been subject to a high level of scrutiny and for which sensible suggestions seemed to have been taken into consideration. 

 

Councillor Reece asked what assurances could be provided regarding deliverability and timeline certainty for the major redevelopment taking place in the town centre, as well as what were the financial implications if capital receipts were lower or later than projected.

 

Councillor Fear said that this administration had kept its promise in respect of keeping Council Tax increases below inflation.  £800,000 had been wasted on the Local Government Reorganisation – which could have been used for the wellbeing of residents.  No employees at the Council had lost their jobs as a result of due economy.

 

Councillor Dave Jones asked for a point of personal explanation regarding Councillor Fear’s mention of ‘due economy’. Councillor Fear explained that it meant responsible behaviour when managing money.

 

Councillor Brown referred to the consultation 25 responses which felt like a significant drop from the 82 that had been received in 2025 and asked what assessment had been made in terms of the consultation’s representativeness as well as what steps would be taken to improve public engagement before taking decisions that affected the taxpayer.

 

Councillor Hutchison stated that he was pleased that the budget had been shaped by resident feedback from the consultation, prioritising service protection.  New technology in street cleaning and refuse collection had had a positive effect. Funding from the Civic Growth Fund had helped to enhance parks and open spaces with tree planting and the Grassland Management Strategy and wildflower meadows.

 

Councillor Richards asked what steps the council would take to reduce reliance on temporary accommodation as referred to in in section 2.10 and what evidence there was that the proposed steps would be successful as well as reduce future financial pressures.

 

Councillor Adcock expressed his support for the proposal, commenting that many residents were struggling financially and it was encouraging to see that the Council tax increase was remaining below 2% and that priority services were being protected.

 

Councillor Grocott referred to the refitting of the G2 facilities and asked where extra investments would go next given that other places like Kidsgrove and various community centres were also in need of refurbishment.

 

Councillor Holland said that no alternative to the current budget proposal had been put forward and thanked the administration for finding money in the Civic Growth Fund to extend concessions on parking tariffs and for the freeze on sports fees.

 

Councillor Fox-Hewitt noted that there had been an 18% reduction in the headcount of Council’s workforce and commented that an alternative budget had been proposed in the past resulting in no fiscal changes.

 

Councillor Fox-Hewitt also referred to the £781,000 staffing related savings that have been identified and requested some clarity on what the roles are and how those savings had been realized.

 

Councillor Fox-Hewitt finally asked that specific examples of the projects be provided in relation to the Civic Growth Fund allocations of £125,000 for place development and £50,000 for digital delivery, as well as how those outcomes would be monitored to ensure long-term savings or economic benefits.

 

The Mayor invited the Leader to respond to questions raised.

 

The Leader stated that the pool’s business rates and reductions would benefit the City and County Councils and that investments were being distributed at the detriment of district councils.

 

In terms of scrutiny, there had been a record of delivery over the past eight years with £10 million savings realised which suggested that there was a good chance of delivering the current budget plans. There was always a risk as with everything but the Council was working with specialist advisers on the treasury side and with Capital and Centric on the regeneration side.

 

The agreement for the regeneration projects had been agreed almost unanimously and the designated contractors would be the ones who would be buying those assets and giving capital receipts as part of the deal and arrangements. Online consultations had taken place under the oversight of this administration since 2018 giving residents a chance to participate and have their say in the proposals year after year.

 

In relation to the cost of maintenance of facilities, external fundings had been brought in including through the environmental scheme with the J2 solar panels. Kidsgrove Sports Centre was also back in use after being closed, as well as the pump track in Newchapel.

 

The Leader clarified that due economy should be understood as a proper careful and appropriate management of resources ensuring expenditure were necessary and reasonable and not wasteful.

 

Councillor Dave Jones left the meeting.

 

The Leader stated that the budget proposed was balanced and kept the Council Tax increase down to 1.99% i.e. 10 p a week for over 95% of households which was the key message coming out along with protecting frontline services.

 

Finally about the staffing savings there had been no redundancies. Efficiency and changes of way of working had led to reduction in the headcount as part of good and sensible governance of the Council.

 

The Leader concluded by saying that the budget was prudent, fair and forward-looking, reflecting the views of residents.

 

The Mayor suspended the meeting to allow members who had left the room to return to their seats.

 

A named vote was taken in respect of the proposed budget:

 

ADCOCK	Y	FEAR	Y	RICHARDS	N
ALLPORT	Absent	FOX-HEWITT	N	SKELDING	Absent
BARKER	Absent	GORTON	N	STUBBS	N
BEESTON	Y	GROCOTT	N	SWEENEY	Y
BERRISFORD	Y	HEESOM	Y	J TAGG	Y
BETTLEY-SMITH	Y	HOLLAND	Y	S TAGG	Y
BROWN	N	HUTCHISON	Y	A TURNOCK	Y
BRYAN	Y	JOHNSON	Y	J WARING	Y
BURNETT-FAULKNER	Y	D JONES	Absent	P WARING	Y
CASEY-HULME	N	S JONES	Absent	WHIELDON	Y
CRISP	Y	LAWLEY	Absent	WHITMORE	Y
DEAN	Y	LEWIS	N	WILKES	Y
DYMOND	N	NORTHCOTT	Y	G WILLIAMS	Absent
EDGINGTON-PLUNKETT	N	PARKER	Y	J WILLIAMS	Absent
		REECE	N	WRIGHT	N

 

In Favour (Y) – 24

Against (N) – 12

Abstain – 0

 

Resolved:     That recommendations (a) to (o) as set out in Appendix 1 to this report, be approved.

 

Watch the debate here