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Issue - meetings

2025/26 Quarterly Finance Review Q2

 

 

Meeting: 17/12/2025 - Executive (Item 435)

435 Quarterly Finance Review Q2 pdf icon PDF 420 KB

Purpose

To detail the Council’s financial performance for Quarter Two 2025-2026

 

Recommendation

That the Executive resolves to:

1.    Note the Council’s Financial Performance for Quarter Two 2025-2026

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Alaric Smith, Executive Member for Finance, introduced the item, the purpose of which was to detail the Council’s financial performance for Quarter Two 2025-2026.

 

In his presentation Councillor Smith made the following points:

 

  • There was an overall cost of service underspend of £272,063 in quarter two, which was driven by additional income from Trade Waste and Development Management.
  • There were no significant overspends to report.
  • Investment income was performing significantly above budget due in the main to interest rates falling more slowly than anticipated.
  • The purchase of Marriotts Walk had shown significant benefits.
  • The Witney PSDS project was now in the construction phase with an estimated completion of the end of February 2026. The Council had received significant grant funding toward the project with the Council’s own contribution estimated to be £565,549. The project must have been completed by the end of March 20226 to ensure grant funding was maintained and the project was therefore being closely and actively monitored to ensure that this was the case.
  • It was expected that the Council would complete on more properties to provide emergency accommodation in the coming year. This enabled the Council to provide this service at less expense.  

 

Councillor Smith proposed accepting the recommendations of the report.

 

Councillor Andy Graham, Leader of the Council, seconded the proposal.

 

This was voted on and approved unanimously.

 

RESOLVED:

That the Executive:

1.    Noted the Council’s Financial Performance for Quarter Two 2025- 2026.

Meeting: 10/12/2025 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 69)

69 2025/26 Quarterly Finance Review Q2 pdf icon PDF 420 KB

Purpose

Pre-decision scrutiny of an Executive report detailing the financial performance of the Council in the second quarter of 2025/26.

 

Recommendation

That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee resolves to:

1.         Note the report and agree any recommendations it wishes to submit to the Executive.

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Finance introduced the report and highlighted that investment income was above expectations.

 

The Committee asked questions and noted from the responses of the Director of Finance and the Head of Finance that:

  • There was a projected underspend in Environmental Services due to a variety of factors including the positive performance of the trade waste service.
  • The Council had been obliged to return unused grant funding to Sports England. This had occurred due to a misunderstanding about VAT treatment (which had been corrected after year end), rather than an underspend on a specific project.
  • Officers would recommend setting aside funding in an earmarked reserve for Local Government Reorganisation in the budget setting process.
  • Capital slippage in relation to investment property repairs and regeneration was considered normal due to the length and complexity of projects such as Carterton Industrial Estate Units 1-3, which was now in the construction phase.
  • Agency costs e.g. in planning services were often due to the need to access specialist consultancy skills for a limited period or to backfill for maternity or sickness absences.
  • There was no individual cost centre for fly tipping. Fly tipping had costs in terms of officer time within Environmental and Regulatory Services. Future reports could show fly tipping as a separate item.
  • Election income was largely accounted for after elections took place and there were significant time delays.

 

The Chair thanked the officers for their report and attendance.

 

 

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