Decision details
Quarterly Finance Review Q3
Decision Maker: Executive
Decision status: Recommendations Approved (subject to call-in)
Is Key decision?: Yes
Is subject to call in?: Yes
Decisions:
Councillor Alaric Smith, Executive Member for Finance, introduced the item, the purpose of which was to detail the Council’s financial performance for Quarter Three 2025-2026.
In his presentation Councillor Smith highlighted the following points:
· At the end of Quarter three there was a cost-of-service underspend of £630,078.
· The key factors contributing to the position were, additional income from Trade Waste, Development Management and the leisure contract.
· There were no significant overspends to report for Quarter Three.
· Investment income was better than budget due in the main to interest rates falling more slowly in the last year than had been anticipated at 2025/26 budget setting. The year end forecast was for an additional £596,000 of investment income above budget.
· In terms of the Capital Programme, there were a number of projects ongoing that included, repairs at The Old Court, Chipping Norton Leisure Centre and Carterton Industrial Estate.
· There was an underspend on the replacement waste fleet which had been rolled into a full waste vehicle strategy which should generate savings.
· The Council was acquiring properties in the district for emergency accommodation, and advance negotiations were ongoing for a further six properties to be acquired.
· The Witney PSDS project was now in the construction phase and had an estimated completion of March 2026.
· S106 contributions had resulted in £1.6m distributed to Town and Parish Councils for projects.
Councillor Smith proposed accepting the recommendations in the report.
There were no alternative options detailed in the report.
Councillor Andy Graham, Leader of the Council, seconded the proposal.
This was voted on and agreed unanimously.
The Executive resolved to:
1. Note the Council’s Financial Performance for Quarter Three 2025-2026
2. Delegate authority to the Director of Finance, in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance, to review earmarked reserves to mitigate against the financial risks identified in this report. See Sections 2.21 – 2.24.
Report author: Georgina Dyer
Publication date: 13/03/2026
Date of decision: 11/03/2026
Decided at meeting: 11/03/2026 - Executive
Date comes into force if not called in: 21/03/2026
Call-in deadline date: 20/03/2026
Current call-in Count: 0
Accompanying Documents:
PDF 399 KB