Who this section is for
If you are a member of staff who has the authority to spend council money, this section provides guidance on:
About the plan
Like many councils, we are facing a significant budget shortfall that needs urgent attention. Running public services has become much more challenging since COVID and costs have risen much more than expected.
To tackle this, we are asking everyone to work together to help reduce the shortfall.
The financial recovery plan sets out how we will manage the expected budget shortfall for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 financial years. It focuses on four main areas:
- third-party spend
- commercial activity
- efficiency and productivity
- stopping, reducing, or pausing services.
Across these areas, we have identified 10 priority savings programmes. Each programme will be led by a member of the corporate leadership team (CLT).
First phase of work
The first phase of work focuses on third-party spend. This is the money we pay as a council to other organisations or people to help deliver services.
This includes:
- contracts with external providers, such as care homes and children service providers
- suppliers or contractors, for example IT systems or highways work
- professional services, such as consultants or agency staff.
This phase also covers:
Other phases of work
An update on the other phases of work within the plan will be shared soon.
Non-essential spending
We need to stop spending on goods and services unless it is essential for delivering front-line services. Examples of spending that is not essential include:
- equipment and materials not critical to operations
- furniture and furnishings
- ICT hardware
- subscriptions
- stationery
- vehicle hire
- services contracted out to companies or individuals not critical to operations.
Check our essential spending guidance principles to see what you should consider when making spending decisions.
Purchases of less than £2,000
Although purchases of less than £2,000 are not part of the spend control process, they will be reviewed regularly by the finance service and the spend control panel to check compliance. If spending rules are not followed, action will be taken against you.
Spend control on purchases more than £2,000
The spend control process is a key tool in our efforts to balance the budget. Other local authorities have successfully used similar approaches to manage and reduce non-essential spending.
Our process includes:
- spend control pre-checks
- an online form to request the purchase of goods and services
- review by either the spend control panel or strategic investment panel, depending on the amount of expenditure.