Agenda and draft minutes

No apologies were received.

No declarations of interest were received.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 8 January 2026 were a correct record and that they be signed by the Chair

Cath Head (Head of Finance Operations) was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr Collins (Deputy Leader of Kent County Council) introduced the report that set out the revenue and capital budget forecast monitoring position as at Quarter 3 2025-26, including progress against savings targets within the revenue budget, capital cash limit changes made between Q2 and Q3 and monitoring updates for reserves, treasury management and prudential indicators.

He reported that the forecast outturn variance for Quarter 3 showed an overspend of £43.5 million, representing 2.8% of the overall budget. He explained that an additional £7 million of capital receipts had been identified as available for use against transformation activity in 2025–26 under the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Directive. This would help reduce the overspend to £36.5 million, thereby reducing the risk of unplanned drawdowns from reserves in order to balance the year?end position.

He noted that a number of actions were being implemented across the Authority, including specific measures within the Adult Social Care and Health Directorate, to address the overspend. He emphasised that the position reflected the continued financial challenges facing the Adult Social Care sector nationally.

Mr Collins stated that savings achieved this year totalled £121.5 million and £97 million was expected to be delivered in 2025-26, representing 80% of the target. He further reported that the capital forecast outturn showed a £64.3 million underspend against budget, consisting of a £15.2 million real variance and a £79.5 million rephasing variance.

Mr Collins reiterated the Cabinet’s thanks to the officers present and those supporting the work more broadly. He stated that their continued professionalism had helped steer the Authority in its current direction.

2.    Mrs Head confirmed that the monitoring forecast had reduced, largely due to the application of the £7 million flexible use of capital receipts, which had helped to lower the reported position. However, she emphasised that this did not address the underlying cost drivers, which would need continued focus going forward. She stated that further work was required to bring the £36.5 million figure down, as it remained a very significant sum. Reducing this position would have a direct impact on the Authority’s general reserves, as a lower year?end overspend would reduce the drawdown on general reserves, thereby strengthening the Council’s financial resilience in future years.

3.    Further to questions and comments from Members the discussion included the following:

(a)  In response to what initiatives had been introduced to help stabilise the adult social care budget, Miss Morton (Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health) confirmed that whilst she remained very conscious of the cost drivers she was extremely pleased with the work undertaken within the directorate in recent months and thanked all staff for their efforts. Miss Morton explained that strict spending controls across the department and the wider council had contributed significantly to the improved position. She reported that updates to practice and policy, robust negotiations with individual providers, and joint brokerage with the NHS had all supported  ...  view the full minutes text for item 130.

Dave Shipton (Acting S151 officer) was in attendance for this item.

1.    The Leader introduced the item and reported that the Executive had developed the draft budget, which had been published on 8 January 2026, and that the proposals had subsequently been considered by the Cabinet Committees and the Scrutiny Committee. She noted that no substantive recommendations had been made by those committees and confirmed that the Executive had taken account of the comments and questions raised by Members during those discussions. The Leader advised that the purpose of the item was for Cabinet to consider the final draft budget, confirm how any committee comments or recommendations had been addressed, and endorse the draft budget for recommendation to full Council for approval.

2.    Mr Collins advised that the budget proposals met the requirement to set a balanced revenue budget for the forthcoming year. He reported that the proposals balanced £179.5 million of core funding spending growth and the reversal of £28.0 million of prior?year savings. These spending pressures were offset by £14.7 million of net changes in reserves, £61.7 million arising from new and full?year effects of savings plans, and £14.6 million of income generation, amounting to a net £116.5 million increase in revenue spending.

He stated that this increase would be funded through £66.2 million from central government and retained business rates, and £50.3 million from council tax and collection fund balances. He added that the capital programme included a significant increase, but this would be fully funded from external sources or existing planned borrowing, with no new borrowing proposed, in order to avoid adding to the substantial cost of servicing debt. He emphasised that this approach was essential to address unsustainable levels of capital debt.

Mr Collins highlighted that most capital spending was allocated to school buildings, highways asset management, and maintaining or improving other council buildings. He explained that the budget report had been significantly streamlined to make it easier to understand, with a one?page summary of key revenue and capital proposals, and short overviews of statutory requirements, local government finance, council tax arrangements, risk and resilience considerations, and treasury management. Detailed information was provided in the appendices and member dashboard.

He reported that most of the spending growth related to adult social care (£89.6 million), children’s services (£50.3 million) and growth, environment and transport (£21.7 million). This included over £40 million in base budget adjustments reflecting the full?year impact of current variances and provision for future cost pressures, such as pay awards, contractual inflation, increased demand, and the cost of new social care placements.

Mr Collins stressed that rising costs and demand continued to exceed available funding from central government and local taxation, creating the ongoing need for savings, income generation and one?off measures such as the flexible use of capital receipts. He stated that savings and income proposals were focused on efficiency and transformation to protect frontline services.

He noted that changes in reserves included planned contributions to general reserves  ...  view the full minutes text for item 131.