Decision
Analysis
outcome: The Cabinet notes forecast overspend risks for the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account, and Dedicated Schools Grant, and approves additional borrowing of up to £30m.
summary: The Cabinet is reviewing the 2026-27 financial performance and seeking approval for capital variations, reprofiling, exception measures, and new reserves.
topline: The Cabinet has decided to review financial performance and approve additional borrowing of up to £30m for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
reason_contentious: This issue may be contentious as it involves potential overspending and additional borrowing, which could impact local services and finances.
affected_stakeholders: ["Cabinet members", "Local residents", "Service users"]
contentiousness_score: 6
political_party_relevance: There are no explicit mentions of political parties in the decision.
URL: https://democracy.brighton-hove.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=7653
Decision Maker: Cabinet
Outcome:
Is Key Decision?: Yes
Is Callable In?: No
Purpose: This report presents the 2026-27 in-year financial performance to Month 2 (May) for noting by Cabinet and seeks approval for any capital variations, reprofiling, exception measures or new reserves.
Content: This report presents the 2026-27 in-year financial performance to Month 2 (May) for noting by Cabinet and seeks approval for any capital variations, reprofiling, exception measures or new reserves. 1) Cabinet notes the forecast risk position for the General Fund, which indicates a potential forecast overspend risk of £19.882m 2) Cabinet notes the additional risks of £17.131m included in the table at Appendix 2 which are not included in the forecast figure above. 3) Cabinet notes the forecast overspend risk for the separate Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which is an overspend of £0.482m. 4) Cabinet notes the forecast overspend risk for the ring-fenced Dedicated Schools Grant, which is an overspend of £6.643m in year resulting in a cumulative deficit of £8.405m. 5) Cabinet approves a request to MHCLG for additional EFS – which is additional borrowing, repaid by further capital receipts - in 2026/27 of up to£30m, to be drawn down if required and discussed in 3.10 below. 6) Cabinet notes the current RAG rating of the transformation workstreams at Appendix 3. 7) Cabinet notes the Treasury Management update at Appendix 4 8) Cabinet notes the Corporate Debtor position at Appendix 5 9) Cabinet approves the addition of new projects to the capital programme totalling £272k as set out in Appendix 6. 10) Cabinet notes the forecast position on the Capital Programme at Appendix 7 which shows budget variations of £4,283k. 11) Cabinet approves the capital budget variations of £6.672m and reprofiling of £8.328m set out in Appendix 7 and discussed at 3.16.
Date of Decision: July 16, 2026