To consider for approval the General Fund Budget for 2025/26 including the use of reserves, Medium Term Financial Strategy, Capital Programme and Strategy, Treasury Management Policy/Strategy, MRP Policy and Annual Investment Strategy and the Annual Delivery Plan including the approval of Council Tax levels for recommendation to Full Council.

N.B. A recorded vote was mandatory on the Annual Budget Report 2025/26 in line with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014.

 

A report was presented to enable consideration of the Annual Budget Report 2025/26, Medium Term Financial Strategy, Capital Programme and Capital Strategy, Treasury Management Policy/Strategy and Annual Delivery Plan, pages 65 to 232 of the Agenda refer.

 

During his introduction Councillor Kemp, Portfolio Holder for Finance highlighted that for 2025/26 the challenges before the Council remained, but with a different emphasis.  These were not being driven from worldwide events as the Council had previously experienced, but from government and through policy changes.  This meant that the Council was receiving significantly less government support than in previous years, with the removal of the Rural Services Delivery Grant.  Further significant changes were planned for the coming year in terms of Business Rates and more changes to future year settlements, plus Devolution and Local Government Re-organisation, therefore there could be no doubt there would be further challenges ahead.

 

Main points relating to the budget were explained in detail on pages 67 to 60 of the Agenda referred, as follows:

 

• Key Budget Pressures
• Council Tax and Business Rates
• Local Government Settlement
• Internal Drainage Boards
• Capital Programme
• Reserves
• Balancing the Budget and other proposed changes
• Additional Considerations

 

In summary, the Portfolio Holder for Finance considered that the budget presented a balanced and positive picture, despite challenging circumstances and appropriately met the issues the Council faced whilst maximising grant income to invest in local assets to the benefit of the communities.

 

Following which, it was Proposed and Seconded:

 

• That Recommendations 1 – 9 of the Annual Budget Report 2025/26, Medium Term Financial Strategy, Capital Programme and Capital Strategy, Treasury Management Policy/Strategy, MRP Policy and Annual Investment Strategy and the Annual Delivery Plan including the approval of Council Tax levels as considered by Executive Board on 20 February 2025 be approved.

 

An Amendment by the Labour Group was Proposed by Councillor Ros Jackson and Seconded by Councillor David Hall as detailed below. 

 

Labour budget amendment 2025/26:

 

HOUSEHOLD SUPPORT FUND BOOST

 

Due to cost of living pressures, ELDC’s Household Support Fund ran out earlier last year due to high demand. This year there will be expected pressures on household budgets due to rising food prices and sustained fuel prices. Therefore, we propose to supplement the Household Support Fund by an extra £250,000 in order to help more of the district’s vulnerable households. The existing government funding is £445,293.

 

CAR PARK SOLAR PANELS

 

We propose to invest in improvements to the council’s car parks with solar canopies in order to create an increased ongoing revenue stream for the council, and to assist in the transition to net zero by 2040. This may also include charging points for electric vehicles. EV charging points will increase the capital costs but reduce the payback time for any installation.

 

A reserve of £330,000 will be created to draw on to begin work on installing solar panels over the most promising car parks in ELDC ownership. The project will draw on experience from the pilot solar installation at the Hub in Horncastle.

 

SUPPORTING AFFORDABLE HOMES

 

We will be putting £300,000 towards supporting the delivery of affordable rented homes in the district, whether those homes are via council housing or in collaboration with a social housing provider. This money will be used to help build more sites for affordable housing throughout the district that would not otherwise be viable.

 

SAVINGS

 

We plan to fund these projects in three ways. We will allocate £680,000 from the Corporate Priorities Reserve.  This would leave a projected £13,887,000 in that reserve by March 31st 2026, for the delivery of other corporate priorities.

We will also draw £200,000 from the Business Rates Volatility Reserve, leaving a projected £5,595,000 in that reserve by 31st March 2026.

 

2025/26

Spending

 

Household Support Fund	£250,000
Solar panels over council car parks	£330,000
Affordable homes support	£300,000
Total	£880,000

 

Savings Plans

Corporate Priorities Reserve	£680,000
Business Rates Volatility Reserve	£200,000
Total	£880,000

 

No changes to 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, and 2029/30.

During her introduction of the Amendment, Councillor Jackson highlighted an error in ‘Savings’ and stated that this should read ‘We plan to fund these projects in two ways’.

 

Debate ensued on the Amendment, and a Member commented that whilst laudable, caution needed to be exercised regarding car park solar panels with a cost benefit analysis undertaken to ensure the benefits outweighed the investment.

 

In response, the Leader of the Council acknowledged that some due diligence needed to be undertaken, however the general principle of car park solar panels was supported.  With regards to the amendment to the budget proposed by the Labour Group on the whole, the Leader advised that he had spoken to the relevant Portfolio Holders in respect of the subject areas and with the agreement of the Proposer and Seconder of the proposals, he proposed that this be absorbed into the main budget 2025/26 rather than as a separate amendment to the budget.

 

The Proposers and Seconders of the Motion and Amendment stated that they were happy to accept this proposal and by consent of the Council it was agreed that the detail contained within the Amendment be absorbed into the 2025/26 Budget.

 

Following which, a Member queried whether the Section 151 Officer considered the above proposal to be a sound decision for the Council.

 

In response, the Section 151 Officer advised that the proposal would require working up in terms of detail provided, however the Council’s reserves were in a healthy condition.  It was further highlighted that the Council already had funding for matters such as decarbonisation schemes and also had priorities around supporting the vulnerable.  It was clarified that all of the items that were being considered were already within the policy framework which would be expanded with the use of some of the reserves that were as a result of renewable windfall that had occurred.

 

Debate returned to the original proposition.

 

The Leader of the SUDS Group passed his thanks to the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Section 151 Officer and the Finance Team for their hard work on delivering a balanced budget and added that he was pleased to see the Amendment had been incorporated into the budget and was happy to support this.

 

A Member stated that he was not happy with the inclusion of the solar panels for car parks.  In response, the Portfolio Holder for Finance stated that putting solar panels on car parks was an issue that divided people, however was very happy to accept this as part of the Labour Group’s proposals.

 

A Member referred to Table 7 ‘Fees, Charges and Rental Income’, page 88 of the Agenda refers and queried whether the £100k set aside for enhancement at Kingfisher Caravan Park would be sufficient.  In response, the Portfolio Holder for Finance agreed to seek clarification on this.

 

A Member queried whether the Council paid Business Rates on its own car parks.  She further supported the budget and urged the Council to spend its reserves to ensure this was spent in the district before it was absorbed into a new authority.

 

A Member referred to food waste detailed at page 101 of the Agenda and highlighted the £1.375m allocated to this.  It was queried whether this amount was for the food caddies and whether it included the costs for collection.  Following which, it was requested that a breakdown be provided for this.  In response, the Portfolio Holder for Finance advised that he had discussed this with the Portfolio Holder for Operational Services and advised that this was essentially a government mandated cost.  The capital cost for this was included in a vehicle procurement process.

 

A Member thanked the Labour Group for putting the Amendment forward.  He referred to the £300k to be allocated to affordable rented homes in the district, however considered whether this amount would be sufficient to make a difference.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Planning considered the budget to be fair and that it delivered on the Council’s ambitions.  He stated that credit must be passed to the Portfolio Holder for Finance and his predecessors in post.  He added that it was an immense achievement to receive a further one-off grant for the IDBs, a fair increase for council tax and further welcomed the enhancement to the community support grants.  He highlighted that he was happy to support the paper and that as a Portfolio Holder he was privileged to work in a council where ambitions were achievable and affordable.

 

A Member commented that she was pleased to see that after 4 years a proposal for solar panels on car parks had been agreed and was happy to support the budget paper.

 

A Member offered his congratulations to the Portfolio Holder for Finance for a well-presented budget.  He highlighted that inflation was currently forecast at 2.5%, however it was anticipated that this may be upwards of 5% later in the year and asked for clarification on what flexibility had been built into the budget as this would create a pressure on services.  He further supported the Labour Group’s amendment and concurred with a previous point made with regards to undertaking a feasibility study for the solar panels on car parks.

 

In response, the Portfolio Holder for Finance stated that all budgets considered the rates of inflation, however advised Members that the Council’s reserves were in good shape, if required to fill a gap.

 

A further comment was made in relation to caravan licensing and the funding that had recently been allocated to addressing this.  He highlighted that a large number of sites were breaching the rules and regulations with little enforcement and that the work to be undertaken to address this must be well managed.  It was further considered that as a local authority, the Council needed to do more in terms of using technology to bring costs down and also deliver on green masterplans.

 

A Member commented that it was pleasing to see that car park charges were not being increased which was really good news for market towns.

 

A further comment was made that investment should be put into Artificial Intelligence (AI) and it was queried why PSPS Limited had the monopoly on this.  In response, the Leader of the Council acknowledged that AI was an issue and an area of endeavour with PSPS Limited and thanked the Member for a point well made.  The Portfolio Holder for Finance added that as AI was relatively new, there was little legislation and regulations that covered this.

 

The Leader of the Council passed his appreciation on to the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Section 151 Officer and the Finance Team and highlighted that the Council was in a very fortunate position as it headed towards local government reorganisation.  He added that he was pleased to see car parking charges had been frozen and also that Councillor Community Grants had been increased from £2k to £4k for 2025/26.

 

In conclusion, the Portfolio Holder for Finance thanked Members for their supportive comments to the budget papers.

 

Upon being put to the vote, it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

a) That the results of the Public Consultation process (Appendix 7 of the report referred) and the minute of the Overview Committee held on 28^th January 2025 (Appendix 8 of the report referred) be noted.

 

b) That the following recommendations as considered by Executive Board on 20^th February 2025 be approved as follows:

 

1. That the Revenue Estimates for the General Fund 2025/26 (Appendices 1, 1a and 1b of the report referred) be approved.
2. That the Council Tax for a Band D property in 2025/26 be set at £171.54 (£4.95 per annum increase on 2024/25 levels).
3. The additions to and use of reserves (as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report referred) be approved.
4. The Medium-Term Financial Strategy (at Appendix 1 to the report referred) be approved.
5. The Capital Programmes and Capital Strategy (Appendices 1, 2 and 3 of the report referred) be approved.
6. The Section 25 addendum (Appendix 1 to the report referred) be noted.
7. That the Treasury Management Policy Statement and Treasury Management Strategy Statement including MRP Policy (at Appendix 4 to the report referred) be approved.
8. The Fees and Charges Schedule 2025/26 (Appendix 5 to the report referred) be approved.
9. The Annual Delivery Plan for 2025/26 (Appendix 6 to the report referred) be approved.

 

c)  That by consent of the Council, it be agreed that the detail contained within the Amendment put forward by the Labour Group be absorbed into the 2025/26 Budget.

 

For the Proposal: Councillors Aldridge, Arnold, Ashton, Avison, Bowkett, Bristow, Danny Brookes, Jimmy Brookes, Campbell-Wardman, Cullen, Cunnington, Dannatt, Davie, Dawson, Devereux, Dickinson, Drury, Edginton, Evans, Eyre, Foster, Fry, Gray, Alex Hall, David Hall, Hesketh, Hobson, Horton, Jackson, Jones, Sam Kemp, Tom Kemp, Kirk, James Knowles, Terry Knowles, Leonard, Leyland, McNally, Macey, Makinson-Sanders, Marnoch, Ellie Marsh, Graham Marsh, Martin, Mossop, Simpson, Watson, Yarsley – 48

 

Against the Proposal: None

 

Abstentions: None

 

Absent: Councillors Billy Brookes, Grist, Grover, Lyons, McMillan, Rickett and Taylor - 7