Agenda item

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 the substantive Motion.

 

FURTHER AMENDMENT

 

Councillor Rae Bhatia, seconded by Councillor Dave and moved:

 

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

 

a. Council Tax to be increased by 4.49%, rather than the 4.99% proposed.

 

b. This will be funded as follows:

 

i. Reducing the budget surplus in 2026/27 reducing the figure transferred to the budget strategy reserve by £0.9m

 

ii. In the following two years it would be funded by the budget strategy reserve increasing the draw on the reserve in 2027/28 by £1m and £1.1m in 2028/29.

 

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

 

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

 

The Lord Mayor declared that the amendment was LOST.

 

The meeting returned to consideration of the substantive motion.

 

FURTHER AMENDMENT

 

Proposed by Councillor Kitterick, seconded by Councillor Sahu and moved:

 

“Add to Recommendations 

 

That the £3.2 million re-investment in City Development & Neighbourhoods should prioritise restoring the loss of funding and services to Community Centres and Libraries which still exist after the City Council’s initial U-Turn on their review of this area.  These revised proposals were outlined in a press release of 18th November 2025 but are still subject to a formal Executive Decision.  Furthermore, the proposals for this should be developed with all elected councillors and not just the relevant Strategic Director. 

 

As there is no extra expenditure in this amendment this is effectively fiscally neutral.”

 

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

 

The meeting returned to consideration of the original substantive Motion.

 

As there were no further speakers, the Lord Mayor put the original substantive Motion to vote.

 

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 30(c) of the Council’s Constitution, a recorded vote was taken.

 

For the Motion:

 

Councillors: Agath, Aldred, Bajaj, Barton, Batool, Bonham, Cank, Clarke, Cole, Cutkelvin, Dempster, Halford, Kaur Saini, Malik, March, Moore, O’Neill, Pantling, Pickering, Russell, Singh Johal, Soulsby (City Mayor), Surti, Waddington and Whittle.

 

Against the Motion:

 

Councillors: Adatia, Barnes, Bora, Chauhan, Dave, Gopal, Gregg, Haq, Joannou, Joshi, Kennedy-Lount, Kitterick, Modhwadia, Orton, Osman, Rae Bhatia, Sahu, Singh Patel and Westley.

 

The Lord Mayor declared the Motion carried.