Agenda and minutes

FORMER COUNCILLOR MANJULA SOOD

The Lord Mayor expressed shock and sadness by the loss of former Councillor Manjula Sood, who passed away on Christmas Eve, the day after her 80th birthday.

The Lord Mayor shared that Manjula was elected as a City Councillor in 1996 and served consecutively until 2019 and was then re-elected in 2023.  During her time as a Councillor, she served on numerous committees, was Lord Mayor in 2008-2009 and held the office of High Bailiff for a number of years.  More recently she was a member of the Executive team and was Assistant City Mayor for Community Cohesion and served as our Armed Forces Champion.

The Lord Mayor highlighted that she worked tirelessly for the people of Leicester, touched the lives of so many, and expressed that her presence will be greatly missed. 

The Lord Mayor invited Members to observe a one-minute silence to remember Manjula Sood.

STONEYGATE BY-ELECTION

The Lord Mayor invited Councillor Kitterick to introduce Councillor Bora who had been elected at the recent by-election for Stoneygate.

The Lord Mayor invited the Monitoring Officer to make a statement in relation

to declarations for the budget meeting.

The Monitoring Officer reminded Members that there was no requirement to

declare any interests already on their registers.

He noted that Members had been contacted in advance of the meeting

regarding interests, but no issues had been raised.

He also explained that Section 106 of the Local Government Act 1992 made

it an offence for any Member who was two months or more in arrears of

Council tax to remain and vote on the General Fund Revenue Budget item,

incorporating as it does a decision about the setting of Council Tax.

However, background checks had indicated that no Elected Member was in

this position.

He further outlined details of a dispensation which, following consultation

with the Standards Committee, he could grant to elected Members who were

Council tenants or had family members or close associates who were

Council tenants. Without this dispensation it would not be possible for

members with an interest in this area to vote on either the General Fund

Revenue Budget or the Housing Revenue Account. The following members

sought and were granted a dispensation:

Councillor Aqbany

Councillor Aldred

Councillor Cank

Councillor Barnes

Councillor Pickering

Councillor Westley

Councillor Halford

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2025 are available to view at:

Agenda for Council on Thursday, 20 November 2025, 5:00 pm

Copies are also available from Governance Services on (0116) 454 6350 or governance@leicester.gov.uk

The Lord Mayor, seconded by the Deputy Lord Mayor and carried:

"That the minutes of Council held on 20 November 2025, be taken as read and are approved as a correct record.”

There were no Statements from the City Mayor or Executive.

Council is asked to approve the recommendations set out on page 3.

Please note that a full record of the of the discussion is available on the recording of the meeting at Budget Council - 25 February 2026 at time 0:18:55-0:49:18.

Councillor Cutkelvin, seconded by O’Neill and moved:

“Council is recommended to:

            Approve the Housing Revenue and Capital budgets for 2026/27;

i)     Approve rent changes for tenants for 2026/27 as follows:

-       4.8% increase to core rent;

-       4.8% increase to garage rent.

-       4.8% increase for Hostel rent and service charges;

-       4% increase for Gypsy and Traveller plot rent;

ii)    Approve service charge changes for tenants and leaseholders for 2026/27 as follows:

-       A reduction in the charges for District Heating as set out in section 4.6.2, including a 16% reduction in the variable charge for metered heat, a 22% reduction in the fixed metered charges.

-       applying increases to all other service charges of 3.8%, in line with CPI.

iii)   Agree to delegate to the City Mayor the authority to reduce service charges by the extent to which this represents a change to the cost of providing those services.

iv)   Note the equality impact assessment of the proposed revenue and capital reductions required to present a balanced budget, at Appendix J;

v)    Note that the scheme of virement (included within the General Fund Revenue Budget report which is also on your agenda) applies also to the HRA budget with total expenditure and total income acting as budget ceilings for this purpose;

vi)   Agree that the delegations and determinations applicable to the main capital programme (which is also on your agenda) shall also apply to the capital programme in this report;

vii)   Note that the capital strategy in that report also applies to the HRA.”

Following the debate, the Lord Mayor put the motion to the vote and declared the motion carried.

Council is asked to approve the recommendations set out on pages 90, 91 and 92.

Please note that a full record of the of the discussion is available on the recording of the meeting at Budget Council - 25 February 2026 - YouTube at time 0:49:18-1:58:00.

City Mayor seconded by Councillor Joel, and moved:

“Council is recommended to:

a)    Approve the capital programme, including the maximum prudential borrowing for schemes as described in this report and summarised at Appendices 1 to 6, subject to any amendments proposed by the City Mayor in accordance with his powers as set out in 2.1(f);

b)    Note if the amendment within the general fund revenue budget for 2026/27 is approved in relation to Adventure Playgrounds, a corresponding amendment will be made to the capital programme. 

c)    To delegate to the Director of Finance, in consultation with the City Mayor, to apply available capital receipts to finance the capital programme in place of prudential borrowing where this is considered financially advantageous, having regard to affordability, sustainability, and the Council’s Treasury Management and Capital Strategies

d)    For those schemes designated immediate starts, delegate authority to the lead director to commit expenditure, subject to the normal requirements of Contract Procedure Rules, rules concerning land acquisition and Finance Procedure Rules;

e)    Delegate authority to the City Mayor to determine a plan of spending for each policy provision, and to commit expenditure up to the maximum available;

f)     For the purposes of Finance Procedure Rules:

•      Determine that service resources shall consist of service revenue contributions; HRA revenue contributions; and government grants/third party contributions ringfenced for specific purposes.

•     Delegate to the appropriate Divisional Director the ability to reallocate resources within the following programmes to meet operational requirements:

o          Operational estate

o          Children’s capital maintenance

o          Highways maintenance programme

o          Transport Improvement Grant for 2026/27

o          Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG)

g)    Delegate to the City Mayor:

•      Authority to increase any scheme in the programme, or add a new scheme to the programme, subject to a maximum of £10m funded from corporate resources in each instance and to borrow whilst remaining within the prudential limits for debt which are proposed in the treasury management strategy (elsewhere on your agenda);

•      Authority to reduce or delete any capital scheme, subject to a maximum reduction of £10m; and

•        Authority to transfer any “policy provision” to the “immediate starts” category.

h)    Delegate to directors, in consultation with the relevant deputy/assistant mayor, authority to incur expenditure up to a maximum of £250k per scheme in respect of policy provisions on design and other professional fees and preparatory studies, but not any other type of expenditure.

i)     Approve the capital strategy at Appendix 6.

j)     Resolved that the Council:

•      agrees to act as Accountable Body for funding provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) under the Pride in Place Programme

•      adds such funding to the Council’s revenue or capital budget as appropriate

•      delegates to the Section 151 Officer, Monitoring Officer and Director of Corporate Services authority to administer the Programme,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5b

Council is asked to approve the recommendations set out on pages 144.

Please note that a full record of the of the discussion is available on the recording of the meeting at Budget Council - 25 February 2026 - YouTube at time 1:58:00-3:22:50.

City Mayor seconded by Councillor Joel, and moved:

“Council is recommended to:

a)    approve the three year budget strategy described in this report;

b)    approve the proposed budget and council tax for 2026/27, including the recommendations in the formal budget resolution circulated separately;

c)    that £2m is transferred from the budget strategy reserve to an earmarked reserve to support the Council-owned Adventure Playgrounds in the City. The funding will be provided as capital and revenue therefore it is proposed to add up to a maximum of £2m to the capital programme to be funded from this earmarked reserve.

d)    approve the transfers from the budget strategy reserve as set out in paragraph 8.3 of this report;

e)    approve the budget ceilings for each service shown at Appendix 1 to this report;

f)     approve the scheme of virement described in Appendix 2 to this report;

g)    note the Director of Finance’s view on the adequacy of reserves and the estimates used in preparing the budget;

h)    note the equality implications arising from the proposed tax increase, as described in paragraph 14 and Appendix 3;

i)     note the medium-term financial strategy and forecasts presented at Appendix 4, and the financial challenges ahead;

j)     note the earmarked reserves position set out at Appendix 5;

k)    note the policy on council tax premiums and discounts set out at Appendix 6;

l)     note that the impact of the Council Tax Support Scheme has been reviewed by the Executive, and reported to OSC, during the year;

m)  approve the inflationary increase to Council Tax Support Scheme thresholds as shown at Appendix 7 and approve further inflationary increases in future years (to be calculated with reference to published CPI inflation for the September prior to the start of the year in question);

n)    approve the capital receipts flexibility policy at Appendix 8.”

The Motion was debated

AMENDMENT

Councillor Kennedy-Lount proposed, seconded by Councillor Haq and moved:

1.    “Approve the three-year budget strategy described in the report subject to following amendments:

a.    Council Tax to be increased by 2%, rather than the 4.99% proposed.

b.    An increase in Newark Houses Museum budget by £0.1m to enable longer opening hours.

c.    This will be funded as follows:

i.     Keeping the savings targets proposed to be reversed in Corporate Services and Finance £1.2m and £0.8m within Estates and Building Services.

ii.    From the removal of the reinvestment into City Developments and Neighbourhoods £3.2m

2.    To delegate to the Director of Finance the ability to amend the budget ceilings at Appendix 1 of the main report, to reflect the changes above.

3.    Approve the amended formal budget resolution circulated as part of this proposal”

Following further debate, the Lord Mayor put the amendment to vote.

The Lord Mayor declared that the amendment was LOST.

The meeting returned to consideration of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5c

Council is asked to approve the recommendations set out on pages 234.

Please note that a full record of the of the discussion is available on the recording of the meeting at Budget Council - 25 February 2026 - YouTube at time 3:22:50-3:46:45.

City Mayor seconded by Councillor Joel, and moved:

“The Council is recommended to approve:

·                       approve the Treasury Policy at Appendix 1, including the 12 treasury Management Practices.

·                       approve the Treasury Management Strategy at Appendix 2 (including Treasury Limits at Appendix 2a, and Treasury Investment Strategy at Appendix 2b). 

·                       approve the Investment Strategy at Appendix 3. 

Following the debate, the Lord Mayor put the Motion to vote and declared the Motion carried.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 21.47pm.