URL: https://councillors.knowsley.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=8214

Decision Maker: Cabinet

Outcome:

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: Yes

Purpose: The report will approve the allocation of resources and will therefore need to be a key decision.  

Content: The report will approve the allocation of resources and will therefore need to be a key decision.               The Cabinet considered the report of the Executive Director (Resources and Partnerships) which detailed how the Council’s revenue budget was spent during 2025/26.     Councillor Mrs J Lonergan, Cabinet Member for Resources, reported that In March 2025, the Council set a balanced budget for 2025/26 without the need for cuts in frontline services or a reduction in jobs and the Council was also made significant new investment in priority areas aligned to the Council Plan priorities and the needs of the Borough’s communities. In this respect, the budget had funded net spending of £217 million on Council services, as detailed in section 4 of the report.   Councillor Lonergan reported that at the end of 2025/26 the Council achieved a balanced overall final position against its 2025/26 revenue budget.  However, within the overall position there had been a number of significant deficits against service budgets which had been offset by one-off resources which the Council had set aside to manage unbudgeted service pressures. In this respect, the Council was reporting a deficit on service budgets of £7.547m, which represented 3.6% of total service budgets. Councillor Lonergan highlighted that the service deficit was mainly due to  continued pressures in Children’s Social Care and Home to School Transport, in addition to an increased shortfall in Adult Social Care, as highlighted in section 5 of the report.   Councillor Lonergan indicated that each year service budgets were set to reflect forecasts from service mangers of future levels of demand and costs, and the budget that would be needed to address these.  In this respect, Councillor Lonergan highlighted that based on the forecasts, the 2025/26 budget therefore included additional investment of £22m, of which £10.5m was in social care and the final deficit for the year was after this additional investment, which reflected the difficulty of making accurate forecasts and the continued severity of growth in demand and costs.    Councillor Lonergan reported that the Council’s financial strategy included actions to mitigate the ongoing impact of the challenges faced by the Council, with a range of measures to ensure that managers across the Council maintained robust financial management and remained committed to reducing budget pressures. In this respect, the Council also ensured that, where possible, it set aside one-off resources to manage the risk of unfunded in-year budget pressures. Councillor Lonergan indicated that the 2025/26 pressures were reflected in the budget estimates for 2026/27 and would continue to be monitored closely with a further report being brought to Cabinet in July to provide an update on the 2026/27 budget monitoring position.   Councillor Lonergan also highlighted that the report summarised the year-end position on the Dedicated Schools Grant and outlined how Government reforms would affect the financial impact of the growing financial deficit.   RESOLVED - That:-   (i)            the final 2025/26 budget monitoring position for the Council as set out in this report be noted; and,   (ii)            the allocation of one-off resources to fund the 2025/26 deficit as set out in section 4 of this report be endorsed.  

Date of Decision: June 4, 2026