Changing how we operate, to deliver affordable and cost-effective outcomes for residents and businesses.
Home Council and democracy About the council Council Plan 2024-2027 Delivering best value
Delivering best value
Our aims
Ensuring robust and effective corporate governance
It will be a priority over the life of this plan to provide government and the Council's auditors with assurances the Council has effectively addressed concerns as set out in the Best Value notice and subsequent statutory recommendations.
Set a balanced revenue budget and Medium Term Financial Plan to restore financial resilience and sustainability
The Council is required by law to manage its annual revenue expenditure within its available financial resources.
It also has a Best Value duty to deliver a balanced Medium Term Financial Plan over three to five years to demonstrate financial stability and sustainability in delivering its wider Council Plan objectives.
The Council faces a significant risk that it is unable to balance its revenue expenditure with its available resources in 2024/2025, and over the medium term to 2026/2027, without fundamental transformation and redesign of services.
The Council's financial resilience is currently weak due to its critically low level of usable revenue reserves which constrain its ability to respond effectively to unforeseen financial pressures.
The Council's Medium Term Financial Planning and annual budget setting framework provides the affordability envelope within which the Council's plans will need to be developed in order to secure financial sustainability.
This includes the requirement to plan to rebuild revenue reserves to strengthen financial resilience that will enable more stable financial planning and management in delivering wider objectives and priorities over the medium term.
