A report of the Director of Finance set out the budget for the forthcoming financial year 2025/26.

The report was based on the usual work and analysis undertaken by the Section 151 Officer and finance team.

The draft budget was proposed for approval by the Policy and Resources Committee and onward recommendation to Council on 3 March 2025.

All Members of the Council need to agree a budget to fulfil their legal obligation to set a balanced and sustainable budget for 2025/26. The draft budget was offered for consideration accordingly. The report presented the following financial aspects:

• details of the annual budget for 2025/26

• the key elements contributing towards the preparation of the Budget.

• recommendations on the budget and council tax

• the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), which incorporates the Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) covering the period from 2025/26 to 2029/30.

The report contained several appendices, some that were required to be published as part of the statutory annual budget process and others that provided the Committee with relevant information relating to short and medium-term budget planning, inclusive of consultation aspects and financial assumptions. These assumptions would change and would be reported through the Council’s governance process for budget monitoring within the Committee system.

The 2025/26 budget had been compiled using the figures in the Final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025/26, which was laid before the House of Commons and approved on 5 February 2025.

The budget proposals, which had been produced with the engagement of Finance Working Group and the Policy and Service Committees during the last year, and the associated recommendations laid out in the report were a key step in achieving the Council’s commitment to produce a stable, prudent and sustainable financial basis to operate from. The proposals also recognised the finite resources available and prioritising them for the best outcomes for Wirral, with the ongoing aim of delivering better services.

The report was necessarily extensive, covering complex information on a number of areas including:

• The Section 151 officer’s report on the robustness of estimates for budget calculations

• The national context and local government funding The approach to formulating the Budget.

• The Budget Proposals

• The Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) with Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP)

• Council Tax

• Business Rates

• Schools’ Budgets

• Levies

• The Council’s Financial Reserves

Members were informed that the Government was undertaking a review of funding for local authorities and had promised a three -year settlement later this year, which will provide a clearer picture of the future funding.

This current forecast and the budget for 2025 -26 illustrated that the Council continued to face a challenging position in relation to the demand pressures set against the available funding.

The terms of the financial settlement for this year were received in December 2024 and had been approximately £11 million better than had been assumed within the budget projections pre-settlement.

The proposed budget took account of all the current known demographic and service pressures that had resulted in the forecast in-year overspend for £20 million, which were detailed in the Quarter 3 Budget Monitoring Report later on the agenda. The assumptions for the growth in the demand-led areas of adults and children were also detailed in this report. Members discussed the prospect of a Liverpool City Region devolution deal and additional funding options that this could bring and also queried the sufficiency of the financial resources team, the school’s budget, and public consultation. In addition, Members discussed early voluntary retirement options available to staff, querying how the council could be kept informed of this process as well as support offered to Council staff.

The chair advised Members that the Director of Finance had requested an additional text be included in recommendation 2 on the budget report.

Delegate authority to the Assistant Director for People and Organisational Culture to carry out any measures in respect of staffing that is required to achieve savings or implementation. This may include consultation (both individual and collective), the serving of any statutory notices or other notices as required (such as HR1 and Page 134 Section 188 documentation if required), support and seeking alternatives in respect of employment, noting that this includes a global offer to all staff to seek early voluntary redundancy'

On a motion by the Councillor Paul Stuart, duly seconded it was,

Resolved – that,

1. Authority be delegated to the Section 151 Officer, following consultation with the Chair and Group Spokespersons of the Policy & Resources Committee, to do anything necessary to give effect to the proposals contained in this report and address any funding changes. This extends to adding any further increases in funding to reserves.

2. Authority be delegated to the Assistant Director for People and Organisational Culture to carry out any measures in respect of staffing that was required to achieve savings or implementation. This may include consultation (both individual and collective), the serving of any statutory notices or other notices as required (such as HR1 and Section 188 documentation if required), support and seeking alternatives in respect of employment, noting that this includes a global offer to all staff to seek early voluntary redundancy.

3. Authority be delegated to the Assistant Director for Governance and Corporate Support to carry out public consultation as required in respect of any policy decisions within the agreed savings.

4. Committee notes and considers the response to the financial proposals forming a draft budget for the purposes of consultation under section 65 of the Local Government Finance Act, set out as:

Appendix 1 Budget Proposals

Appendix 2 Budget consultation

Appendix 3 Policy & Service Committee budget proposals feedback

Appendix 4 The Dedicated Schools Grant Schools Budget

Appendix 5 Provisional Council Tax Statutory Calculations

Appendix 6 Discretionary Rate Relief Policy

Appendix 7 Medium-Term Financial Strategy

Appendix 8 Budget proposal changes since November 2024

Appendix 9 Council Tax Base Calculation Process and Associated Background Information

Appendix 10 Budget Pressures and Growth

5. A Revenue Budget of £444.722m be recommended to Council, noting that the Section 151 Officer in liaison with the Monitoring Officer and Head of Paid Service may need to make adjustments to the Budget estimates before the preparation of final reports for Full Council on 3 March 2025.

6. Accordingly recommend that Council: Page 135 a) Approves the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) set out as Appendix 7 of the report b) Approves increases to the Council’s fees and charges equal to or above the annual Consumer Price Index reported by the Office for National Statistics in September 2024, unless either of the following conditions apply:

i.  There is a statutory constraint that prevents such an increase,

ii.  The Council is operating in a market whereby such an increase would result in the Council being uncompetitive.

c) Approves the Discretionary Rate Relief Policy for Business Rates for 2025/26 set out as Appendix 6.

d) Approves that Unearmarked Reserves (General Fund Balances) are increased by £3.562m to a total of £16.738m in 2025/26 (including a one[1]off £1.187m contribution from the collection fund surplus.)

e) Authorises, in respect of the Budget Proposals, that the Director with portfolio undertake such actions as they consider necessary to implement the agreed Budget and deliver the savings, income and efficiency proposals developed as part of the formulation process and update Committees accordingly.

f) Notes the rigorous monitoring process established to track both overall budget performance and the delivery of savings proposals, as previously reported to Policy and Resources committee in July 2024, with an updated report scheduled for March 2025. Furthermore, note the establishment of a Member Oversight Panel specifically tasked with reviewing and monitoring the progress of the transformation and change programme.

g) Approve the 2025/26 Schools Budget of £421.858m

7. Recommend (subject to a separate vote at Council) that Council:

a. Sets the Band D Council Tax at £1,982.44 for the Wirral Borough Council element of the Council Tax, representing a general increase of 2.99% and 2.00% ringfenced increase to Adult Social Care, and the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2025/26, as detailed in Appendix 5.

b. Notes that the additional precepts from the Police & Crime Commissioner for Merseyside and the Merseyside Fire & Rescue Authority remain in estimated form and delegates authority to the Section 151 Officer to implement any variation to the overall council tax arising from the final notification of the precepts.