The Mayor will be in attendance to present OSB with the
draft budget and Medium Term Financial Plan. At the time of agenda publication,
the draft budget report had not been considered by Executive. Those wishing to
view the draft budget report are advised to access the papers for Executive
scheduled for 17 December 2025.
Minutes:
The Chair invited the Executive Member for Finance and the Mayor to deliver their presentations relating to the draft budget 2026/2027.
The Executive Member for Finance delivered her presentation which included the following points:
· During the 2024/25 financial year the Council had been required to save £14 million.
· There had been a requirement to seek Exceptional Financial Support totalling £4.7 million. The Council did not draw down on all of this, however.
· During the same period there had also been reversals to savings required in Area Care, Welfare Rights and Street Warden provision.
· For the 2025/26 financial year, savings requirements and income generation was £7 million.
· There was £2.5 million available for service growth which included 20% increase for Area Care expenditure, as well as an increase in pest control staffing from one to four members of staff.
· A priorities fund was established which totalled £4.4 million and was split across childhood enrichment, shop front improvements and Councillor ward allocation.
· In terms of additional funding being made by the government, there was a total of approximately £21 million in additional funding from central government. This was based on the best information when the draft budget report was written. However, a cursory review of the government’s announcement showed the Council’s projections were largely accurate.
· This funding would be allocated across several initiatives including service demand pressures and inflationary changes.
· After required spending, the remaining addition funding totalled approximately £6.4 million.
· Reserves were rising and were predicted to total approximately £40 million.
· The planned spending in the draft budget was affordable due to the Council’s improved financial position as well as improved governance and budget spending controls.
· The draft 2026/27 budget proposed no cuts to services; no increase in core council tax; a 2% increase on the Adult Social Care precept which would cover increased costs of statutory services and £6millon worth of investment in front line services.
The Chair thanked the Executive Member for Finance for her presentation and invited questions from the Board.
A discussion took place about the monetary value of the 2% Adult Social Care Precept. It was clarified that the Adult Social Care Precept would cost 53p per week for a Council Tax Band A property where it was the equivalent of 80p per week for a Council Tax Band D property. The amounts would change depending on the household type. It was clarified this was for the Middlesbrough element of the Council Tax liability.
A Member sought, and was provided with reassurance, that the Council would have sufficient funds to deal with unexpected financial shocks. It was also clarified that increasing Council Tax to the maximum 4.99% would generate a little more than £2 million.
A Member stated that in previous years the Council had been told to increase its Council Tax by the maximum permitted. However, given the additional funds available was there an opportunity to keep the increase at zero. The Mayor stated that the Fair Funding process did not happen in year one, but was phased in over three years. As such the Council was taking the most reasonable approach to ensure that all aspirations were being covered. It was commented that it was possible such a freeze could happen in year two, but this was dependent on the status of Fair Funding process. The Council would have a better idea where the end settlement was going to be as time progressed.
The S.151 officer stated that that they would always recommend the maximum increase to Council Tax. However, increases needed to be placed in the context of government settlement which was intended to equalise Council Tax. It was stated that while the settlement from government seemed favourable for Middlesbrough there were still unknowns.
It was stated that the government settlement had taken into consideration not only levels of deprivation in the town but also the ability for the Council to raise Council Tax. When Middlesbrough’s average Council Tax level was correlated against its dwellings it meant Middlesbrough had a low ability to raise Council Tax.
In terms of green waste, a Member queried if there was a profit as result of charging for this. It was clarified there was a larger income than was planned for and would still be in profit when taking the service costs into account. The Member further queried if a reduction could be provided to users of that service. It was stated that when the service was introduced the fees were based on what other Councils charged for a similar service. It was stated the service was still quite new and that additional data was needed to fully evaluate its financial performance. The Member was also advised that as the budget was out to consultation, their suggestion could also be put forward as part of that process.
A discussion took place about the make-up of the Council Tax bill during which it was clarified that, while Council Tax bills contain amounts relating to the Police and Fire authorities this did not impact on Middlesbrough Council. Those amounts were only included on the Council Tax bill as Middlesbrough administered the Council Tax process.
The Chair thanked the Executive Member for Finance for her presentation and invited the Mayor to deliver his presentation.
The presentation included the following points:
· Services were provided with more realistic budgets which would give them an opportunity to achieve their targets.
· These areas included investing £1.7 million into Environment Services and roles including Neighbourhood Caretakers.
· There were areas of growth in the Council which included childhood enrichment programmes such as £300,000 investment in every ward to ensure that young people had access to a youth club or youth service.
· There was also £200,000 investment in the 10x10 programme.
· In terms of jobs and growth, this included investment of £580,000 in the tech sector, while culture and events would see a £200,000 investment in the Council’s museums offer and £300,000 for cultural events. In this area there was a push to holding cultural events across the town and not just in the Town Centre, as well as holding organised fireworks events.
· To make the town safer there was a planned investment of £650,000 to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour which included additional resources in CCTV operators. On this matter, consultation with the police suggested the Council needed to do more to tackle the issue of missing children.
· In terms of improving housing standards, a £300,000 investment was planned for the creation of an empty properties team.
· Play parks would receive a £700,000 investment, both in terms of revenue and capital budgets, that would see the appointment for a Play Park Fitter as this area had suffered over recent years.
· To support communities there would be £600,000 available for areas with higher levels of deprivation in the north, east, south and west of the town. It was highlighted there were 11 areas in the town that fit the relevant criteria with Newport ward being used as an example. This work would involve both working with the recipient communities as well as elected Members. councillors.
A Member queried if the £600,000 would be split equally across the town. It was clarified that £150,000 would be spent in each area but would be spent in relevant Lower Super Output Areas (LSOA). There were several areas in each part of the town that could receive such funding. Targeting investment, in this way was more effective at resolving problems in those areas.
A Member queried if any of the deprived areas identified fell within the South of the Town, specifically in Wards such as Marton and Stainton. It was stated that southern wards likely to receive some of the investment were within Hemlington and Coulby Newham wards.
It was reaffirmed that funding for this initiative would be based on small areas in each North, South, East and West area of the town should those areas meet set criteria.
The Mayor continued with his presentation which included the following points:
· In terms of supporting and protecting vulnerable residents, a £210,000 investment would be made to remodel access to Adult Social Care. £600,000 would be provided for those with additional and complex needs.
· Any shortfall in Cleveland Police’s victims of crime services would be covered by the Council, which would be approximately £200,000.
· Additional support would be made available for homelessness services.
A Member queried what additional support for homelessness would look like. It was clarified there would be a mix of sheltered and standard temporary accommodation. An example was provided whereby if a house had been classed as an empty property but was brought back into use, and it was appropriate, this could be used for a family.
The Member further queried if this initiative would primarily be for those near homelessness. It was clarified there would be cases for both. A discussion took place during which it was commented there was a need to move away from existing practices and providers of homelessness accommodation to a more effective method of providing accommodation.
A Member commented that while the points raised by the Mayor were good, they asked what the benefits were to areas that did not have high levels of deprivation. It was commented the investments would not just be available for areas with high levels of deprivation. An example of youth provision and area care improvements would benefit all areas of the town was provided.
In terms of temporary accommodation, a Member commented it may be a better improve properties to a standard whereby residents would stay in the property for longer. It was stated that while permanency was an ambition, the current pressures facing services meant this was not possible. There was also a need to reduce the number of empty properties and that improved properties would be to the same standard as for a private landlord.
A discussion took place around allocation of investment to areas with higher levels of deprivation. It was stated that targeting investment in areas of high deprivation areas was sometimes the right thing to do and that resistance to this approach sometimes occurred within the same ward. It was also stated that such an approach could be perceived as wasteful, but that such areas had not had the investment they should have received previously.
A Member sought clarification on the amount of money available to improve properties as £300,000 did not seem sufficient. It was clarified that £300,000 would employ staff to carry out the work, however there was approximately £6million available from capital funds to improve properties. The Mayor stated that, were the Council improve an empty property, it would expect any debts owed to the Council to be paid before that work began or the debt would be written off should the property be transferred to the Council.
The Mayor continued with his presentation and made the following points:
· £110,000 was to be available to support the work of Foster workers and Kinship carers.
· There would be no cuts to services in the proposed budget which would see £6millon worth of investment for the Council.
A Member queried how ‘parent officers’ would work in practice. It was clarified those officers would be tasked to families rather than just parents or young people to try and reduce the number of missing child episodes.
A Member commented that it was sometimes difficult to secure the time of Neighbourhood Caretakers and it was important for communities that this happen.
Overall, the Mayor stated that with increased investment and planned to spend the Council was making progress on planned outcomes. It was also stated it was important for Middlesbrough to receive its fair share of funding. From an Area Care perspective, there was a need to increase this work as a matter of routine as the Neighbourhood Caretakers were undertaking this work on an as-needed basis.
Members expressed thanks to the Neighbourhood Caretakers and the work they undertook. It was also stated that planned work should be carried out with all elected Members being advised to ensure priorities were addressed. The Mayor had requested that a forward plan be created to capture this work.
A Member commented that investment in cultural events, which included a Fireworks display, may not deter the creation of local bonfires which often led to Anti-Social Behaviour. Reference was made to an initiative whereby the Council could hire skips to improve clean up activity. The Mayor stated that a different approach had been used for this year’s bonfire activity which included placing a bonfire on Homerton Road boulder rings. It was acknowledged that, in some areas, it was better to manage bonfire activity rather than enforce it. Other similar initiatives included creating murals on walls where graffiti was common.
A Member queried the status of the Civic Centre building. It was clarified that it was currently vacant but that opportunities were being explored with the Arts Council.
Members discussed the use of youth clubs and youth provisions, during which it was stated that youth clubs would be reinvigorated from existing clubs and not Council ran. This approach would feature as part of a Youth Strategy as this would allow connections with young people.
A discussion took place, during which Members commented that events for young people needed to act as outreach activities as well.
In terms of bonfires, it was clarified that, from a liability perspective, the Council was mitigating risk in its approaches to manage bonfire activity.
Members also discussed the benefits of encouraging greater youth participation.
The Chair thanked the Mayor and Executive Member for Finance for their presentations and asked the Board to note the information presented.
NOTED.