Under Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003 there is a requirement for the Council’s Chief Financial Officer to report to Council on:

a) the robustness of the estimates made for the purposes of the calculations of the budget; and

b) the adequacy of the proposed financial reserves.

Council in considering its Budget should have regard to this advice.

Recommendation:  That Council notes this report in setting its budget for 2025/26 and the indicative budgets for 2026/27 – 2028/29.

Council considered a report from the Group Director Finance, as required under Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003, on the robustness of the estimates made for the purposes of the calculations of the budget and the adequacy of the proposed financial reserves. The Group Director Finance advised that scrutiny of the budget had been undertaken by the Finance Team, Directors and the Chief Executive, Executive Members and the Scrutiny Committee’s Finance Panel, and the figures presented were an estimate of factors at a specific time and therefore liable to change. He highlighted that the estimated income was also subject to the Oxford Model delivering key income streams and as such were outside the control of the Council, however noted that he was confident that the figures provided demonstrated the best estimate and were robust. The Group Director Finance also noted the uncertainty which had been introduced by the local government reorganization plans which had been put forward by central government.

Council noted the report in setting the Council budget for 2025/26 and the indicative budgets for 2026/27 – 2028/29.