Decisions

The Executive Member of Finance submitted a report for Executive consideration which set out the proposed Council Tax Reduction (CTR) Scheme for 2026/27.

 

ORDERED that the Executive approve the proposed Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2026/27, as set out in the report, to be forwarded to Council for formal approval.

The Executive Member for Finance submitted a report for consideration by the Executive, presenting the Prudential Indicators for 2026/27 to 2029/30 and the Treasury Management Strategy for 2026/27. The report outlined the statutory requirement for the Council to set prudential indicators and approve an annual Treasury Management Strategy, which governs the Council’s borrowing, investments, and overall capital financing framework.

 

ORDERED that Executive approve that the following are forwarded to Council for approval as set out below:

 

a)    The Prudential Indicators and Limits for 2026/27 to 2029/30 relating to capital expenditure and treasury management activity set out in tables 1 to 9 of Appendix 1;

b)    The Treasury Management Strategy for 2026/27, which includes the Annual Investment Strategy for that financial year;

c)    The Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy for the 2026/27 financial year; and,

d)    An Authorised Limit for External Debt of £354 million for the 2026/27 financial year.

 

The Executive Member for Finance submitted a report for Executive consideration which sought approval for adoption of the refreshed Exceptional Hardship Fund - Section 13A (1) (a) Policy under the Local Government Finance Act (LGFA) 1992 (as amended).

ORDERED that Executive:

 

a)    Approve the refreshed Exceptional Hardship Fund - Section 13A (1) (a) Policy, which includes an additional element for some Care Leavers as set out in 4.5 below; and,

b)    Approve that delegated authority be provided to the Chief Finance Officer to make minor modifications to the Policy in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance.

 

The Executive Member for Finance submitted a report for Executive consideration presenting the Council’s forecasted financial position at Quarter Three 2025/26 and seeking approval for several required financial actions.

 

 

ORDERED that Executive:

 

1. Approves budget virements over £250,000 within the revenue budget (Appendix 1);
2. Approves budget virements over £250,000 within the Capital Programme (paragraph 4.47); and,
3. Approves the inclusion of new schemes and additions to existing schemes to the Capital Programme totalling £0.357m for 2025/26, which are all externally funded to either new or existing schemes (detailed in Appendix 5). Subject to approval this will increase the approved 2025/26 Capital Programme budget to £88.451m.

 

AGREED that Executive:

 

1. Notes the Council’s financial performance and forecast year-end financial outturns for revenue and capital budgets for the financial year 2025/26 as at Quarter Three, highlighting the budget pressures and the forecast year-end position if no further action is taken. At present, the revenue budget is forecast to be under pressure by £1.675m (1.1%) at year end after the proposed use of central contingences and other budgets; and,

 

2. Notes that Directors continue to implement recovery plans, mitigations and financial controls aimed at reducing their forecast budget pressures and acknowledges the ongoing requirement for Directors to continue refining and implementing these plans to achieve a balanced budget by the end of 2025/26. In support of this corporate revenue budget spending controls will continue to be applied during 2025/26.

 

The Executive Member for Finance submitted a report for Executive consideration which set out the proposed 2026/27 Revenue Budget, Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP), and Council Tax proposals following the publication of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement.

 

 

ORDERED the Executive to approve that the following are forwarded to

Council for approval:

 

1. Proposed service budget growth of £6.460m from 2026/27 in order to reinvest in some direct services to the community and provide reinvestment in the resilience of enabling services (detailed in Appendix 3)

 

2. Budget provision of £15.549m for 2026/27 rising to £35.963m in 2029/30 to address forecast service demand pressures and re-basing of budgets (including for reduced income levels and legislative requirements). This includes the decision by Executive not to increase school meals prices for parents who do not receive free school meals in order to support families, for which budget provision of £0.230m for 2026/27 rising to £0.371m in 2029/30 has been provided (paragraphs 4.59 to 4.61 and Appendix 1)

 

3. Budget provision of £0.499m p.a. from 2026/27 for Corporate Demand, and the continuation of the Member Led Ward Schemes budget of £0.235m p.a.  from 2026/27 (Table 7 in paragraph 4.62)

 

4. Budget provision of £2.458m p.a. from 2026/27 to remove savings from the MTFP which are now found to be unachievable in the manner originally intended (paragraph 4.65)
5. No increase in core (general) Council Tax for 2026/27, but an increase in Council Tax for 2026/27 of 2% relating to the Adult Social Care precept to fund increased costs of statutory duties in Adult Social Care (paragraph 4.30), resulting in a proposed Council Tax level (Band D) of £2,115.86 excluding parish, Fire, and Police precepts (detailed in Appendix 11)

 

6. The proposed General Fund revenue budget for 2026/27 with a net budget requirement of £200.675m (Appendix 5)

 

7. The Financial Reserves Policy for 2026/27 (Appendix 7) including the proposed contributions to reserves to strengthen the Council’s financial resilience and the setting up of a new Budget Smoothing Reserve from 2026/27

 

8. The proposed Fees & Charges Policy for 2026/27, and the schedule of fees and charges arising from the application of the approved policy for 2026/27 (Appendix 8)

 

9. The Capital Strategy Report 2026/27 and the proposed 2026/27 to 2029/30 Capital Programme totalling £183.741m which includes the addition of new Council funded schemes and additions to current schemes and extension of schemes deemed Business as Usual totalling £11.735m in 2026/27 and  rising to £56.633m by 2029/30, and the associated financing statement (Appendix 9)

 

10. The Flexible Use of Capital Receipts (FUoCR) Strategy for 2026/27 including transformation and redundancy expenditure as part of the Transformation Programme amounting to £5.789m which can be capitalised in 2026/27 (Appendix 10)

 

11. The Pay Policy Statement for 2026/27 which sets out the Council’s policies on remuneration of its staff in accordance with Section 38 of the Localism Act 2011 (Appendix 13)

 

AGREED the Executive:

 

1. Notes the statutory s25 report of the Council’s Section 151 Officer in respect of the robustness of the estimates within the budget and the adequacy of reserves (Appendix 6)

 

2. Notes that the Council’s S151 officer recommends that the Council increases the Council Tax each year by the maximum allowed by the Government due to the reasons outlined in paragraph 4.31. However, whilst not recommended, given the improved financial position and financial resilience of the Council and the improved governance and budget spending controls that exist, and the increased Government funding available to the Council it is possible to financially accommodate a decision by the Mayor and Executive for a lower than maximum increase in core (general) Council Tax to be proposed to  Council for 2026/27 (paragraph 4.32). Also, it is recommended that no decisions are made in relation to 2027/28 and 2028/29 Council Tax increases, and these should be made at a later date when there is more certainty on the financial position (paragraph 4.33)

 

3. Notes the updated financial planning assumptions in the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan following the publication of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, and that these will be updated further following publication of the Final Local Government Finance Settlement in early February 2026, with any changes being reported to the Council on 18 February 2026 as part of the budget setting report

 

4. Notes the Government funding in the form of Fair Funding Allocation (Revenue Support Grant, Local Authority Better Care Fund, Retained Business Rates and Business Rates Top up Payment) of £130.960m in 2026/27 (summarised in Table 1a in paragraph 4.14), which is an increase of £14.171m for 2026/27 (as shown in Table 1b in paragraph 4.14)

 

5. Notes the increase in the Council’s Core Spending Power (the Government’s calculation used to illustrate the overall impact of local authority funding which includes the Settlement funding, the Government’s assessment of Council Tax income, and various specific grants) from 2025/26 to 2028/29 is £57.369m or 28.3% and from 2024/25 to 2028/29 £75.096m or 40.6% (paragraph 4.17)

 

6. Notes that there is no requirement currently for the Council to make any additional further budget savings in 2026/27 other than those already included in the current MTFP, however work will continue to identify and deliver efficiencies and savings in the future through robust budget monitoring and the Transformation Programme (paragraphs 4.63 and 4.69)

 

7. Notes the updated Medium Term Financial Plan position for 2026/27 to 2029/30 highlighting a balanced budget each year for the MTFP period (Table 12 in paragraph 4.74)

 

8. Notes the feedback of the budget consultation exercise (paragraphs 4.76 to 4.86 and Appendix 4)

 

9. Notes the forecast level of Council reserves over the period of the MTFP from 2026/27 to 2029/30 following the proposed budget, and that the proposed budget and MTFP should not negatively impact reserves levels in the medium term. The estimated balances on unrestricted usable revenue reserves as at 1 April 2026 of:

 

·         General Fund balance - £11.100m

·         Unrestricted Usable Earmarked reserves – £14.837m

 

10. Notes the details of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Grant for 2026/27 and the allocation to schools, the forecast total cumulative DSG deficit of £31.213m on 31 March 2026, and the risk to the Council if Government does not provide a suitable funding solution (Appendix 12)

 

11. Notes that the budgets for the Members’ Small Scheme programme for 2025/26 and 2026/27 would be reprofiled to allocate £150,000 for 2025/26 and £120,000 for 2026/27. The £6,400 underspend from 2025/26 would be rolled over to 2026/27 and £7,500 would be brought forward from 2027/28, resulting in a total allocation of £133,900 for 2026/27 to cover all eligible schemes proposed for that year.

 

12. Notes that wording on appendix 3 would be amended to clarify that increased capacity would enable the Council to extend the service beyond back alleys and open spaces to domestic properties, ensuring it was clear that the expanded offer focused on key public health pests. This amendment was made to avoid the wording being interpreted as applying to offices or shops, and it was noted that a separate report would follow setting out detailed operational arrangements.

 

The Executive Members for Development and Neighbourhoods submitted a joint report for Executive consideration, seeking approval for significant investment in Middlesbrough’s Neighbourhood Hubs.

 

 

ORDERED that Executive:

 

a.   Approves the specification of works outlined for the enhancement of the North, South, East and West Neighbourhood Hubs;

b.  Approves that any of the £5m resource allocation which is not used on the redevelopment of the Neighbourhood Hubs, be vired towards neighbourhood assets and open spaces; and,

c.   Delegates any construction contract, design, scope and budget adjustments to the Director of Regeneration, in consultation with the Director of Environment and Community Services – insofar as they are compliant with financial and contract procedure rules.

 

AGREED that Executive:

 

1. Notes the phased development and delivery of works to ensure that continuity of Community services was prioritised;
2. Approved the amendment to the above recommendation to read: ‘Delegates any construction contract, design, scope and budget adjustments to the Director responsible for Regeneration, in consultation with the Director responsible for Environment and Community Services, insofar as these are compliant with financial and contract procedure rules’; and,
3. Notes that work would be undertaken to address the terminology used for community hubs and neighbourhood hubs.

 

The purpose of the report was to seek approval for the Adult Social Care and Integration Vision and Strategy.

ORDERED that Executive approve the Adult Social Care & Integration Vision and Strategy 2025–2035, along with the 2026/7 delivery plan.

The purpose of the report sought Executive approval to utilise grant funding and Section 106 resources to secure properties to alleviate the need for expensive temporary accommodation solutions via a range of options.

ORDERED that Executive:

 

1.    Approves the utilisation of £3.6m of retained Affordable Housing Section 106 developer contributions to replace the Towns Fund grant and bring the available resources back to the previously approved £6.141m;

2.    Approves a revised menu of options to secure properties to alleviate the need for expensive temporary accommodation that would enable greater impact, flexibility and value for money than those previously proposed; and,

3.    Delegates decisions relating to the appointment of the providers from within the menu of options to the Chief Officer with responsibility for Regeneration in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer, and the Executive Member with responsibility for Development.

 

AGREED that Executive:

 

1.    Notes the decision of Executive, in December 2024, to invest resources from the Towns Fund grant (£4m) and Levelling Up Partnership grant (£2.141m) to secure properties to alleviate the need for expensive temporary accommodation solutions.

2.    Notes the subsequent decision of Executive, on 12 November 2025, within the Middlehaven Housing report to utilise £3.6m of the aforementioned Towns Fund grant for the appointment of Capital and Centric as the Council’s development partner.