Budget Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee - 21 January 2026

The Committee first approved the minutes of the Budget Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 26 November 2025, with Councillor Ball moving the resolution and Councillor Cole seconding it. No declarations of interest were recorded and no questions were received from members of the public. The Vice‑Chairman informed the members that the Cabinet would provide additional confidential information – including previously proposed savings and their RAG ratings – to support further budget recommendations ahead of the Cabinet meeting on 11 February 2026.

The Service Director for Resources and Performance presented an update on the overall budget and reserves position, as well as interim feedback from the Council Priorities Plan consultation, which was still open. Two exempt appendices were identified as commercially sensitive and were to be discussed in a private session. The Director highlighted that the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement (published 17 December 2025) introduced material changes to the assumptions used in the draft budget, notably the removal of the “remoteness” factor for most services and the re‑introduction of the Recovery Grant, for which no funding would be received. Consequently, the Council’s projected spending power was set to rise by 27 % to £198 million by the end of the settlement period, while reliance on council‑tax revenue would increase to over 60 % of core spending power by 2028/29, above the England average of about 55 %. Government funding, excluding council tax, was projected to increase by only £16 million (4.5 %) over three years, representing a real‑terms reduction.

A motion to exclude the press and public from part of the meeting—on the basis that exempt information concerning the financial or business affairs of individuals might be disclosed—was moved by Councillor Donnithorne and seconded by Councillor Moore. Councillor A Mitchell voted against the motion; the detailed debate is recorded in the confidential minutes. The Committee later voted to re‑admit the press and public, after which several items of publicly available information were discussed. These included clarification that the draft budget contained no new transfer to the General Fund reserve, a proposal to raise the capital‑programme contingency from £1.9 million (2025/26) to £10 million (2026/27) to reflect the scale of the programme and recent usage of the previous contingency, and suggestions to review major spending areas such as Newquay Airport and Adult Social Care, and to advance transformation projects to the 2026/27 financial year.

Finally, the Committee resolved to recommend to Cabinet that (1) a Citizens Assembly approach be explored for the next year’s budget process to enhance democratic legitimacy, (2) all other suggestions raised during the meeting be taken into account, and (3) the Cabinet present the Budget Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee with a final list of workable saving proposals well before the 11 February Cabinet meeting. This recommendation was moved by Councillor Creek and seconded by Councillor Donnithorne.