Minutes Public Pack, 21/01/2026 Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Committee report · Overview and Scrutiny Committee · Mon 9 Mar 2026 · Hastings Borough Council · agenda item 3

What it recommends

In the report's own words. A recommendation is a proposal: the meeting can agree, change or reject it.

“The Council has a statutory responsibility to set a balanced Budget and Council Tax in advance of the start of the new financial year.”
“The report identifies that a balanced budget in 2026/27 and in 2027/28 will be achieved with a small surplus expected of £440k in 2026/27 and £474k in 2027/28.”
“The level of grant funding, Council Tax increases and income from fees and charges is insufficient to meet the annual increases in costs e.g. inflation, pay increases, demand pressures, in particular the costs of meeting our statutory homelessness costs. However, changes in the Government funding formula has seen a positive impact on the financial position for the Council.”
“The Council is only able to increase Council Tax by a maximum of 2.99% without a referendum.”
“The Council remains exposed to a much greater degree of volatility in terms of its income from Non-Domestic Rates and exp.”

What the meeting decided

The minutes record: Agreed. “RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 21 January 2026 be approved.” minutes ↗

In plain English

Each sentence was checked against the passage it cites; how the checking works.

Recommended · This went to the meeting on Mon 9 Mar 2026. What was decided is in that meeting's minutes.

Further recommendations covered the proposed use of reserves, an updated Reserves Policy, and an extra £331,486 for Discretionary Housing Payments to support residents who need it most. p72 p75 p77

Officers forecast a balanced budget with a small surplus of £440,000 in 2026/27 and £474,000 in 2027/28. p79

Housing was reported to make up just over 40 per cent of the Council's revenue budget, with a target of reducing households in temporary accommodation by about eight per month. p26 p27

2 further sentences of this summary were held back by verification and are not shown. We only publish claims that survived checking against the cited passages.

Show the 6 passages this is based on

p26The Committee heard that housing accounted for just over 40 per cent of the Council’s revenue budget, underlining its significance within the overall financial position. Housing was a recurring and critical factor in budget setting and financial monitoring; accordingly, the Head of Housing had been invited to address the Committee. Chris Hancock, Head of Housing, endorsed the level of challenge and stress testing applied during the budget-setting process. It was emphasised that the housing budget figures were not produced in isolation, but had been robustly tested by the finance team, scrutinised through the Senior Leadership Team and challenged by councillors and the Portfolio Holder. The resulting targets were therefore described as challenging but realistic.
p27The target for the coming financial year was less ambitious than that set previously and focused on achieving an average reduction of approximately eight households per month in temporary accommodation. The target had been met in most months during the current year, aside from a small number of periods where demand had increased significantly. On that basis, there was confidence that the target could be maintained moving forward.
p72OSC. 9 (v) Approve the proposed use of Reserves (Appendix J) and that the Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance, be authorised to transfer funds between earmarked reserves as deemed appropriate throughout the length of the medium-term financial planning period.
p75(viii) Approve the additional £331,486 budget for DHP funding to support residents who need it most.
p77(x) Approve the updated Reserves Policy for 2026/27
p792. The report identifies that a balanced budget in 2026/27 and in 2027/28 will be achieved with a small surplus expected of £440k in 2026/27 and £474k in 2027/28.

Places and organisations it names

Hastings Borough Council

Other papers for this meeting

02 Appendix B District overview Hastings ESCC PH · Committee report
2025-26 P9 Finance, Risk & Performance Report to end of December 2025 · Committee report
Overview and Scrutiny Committee agenda · Committee agenda
Appendix 1 - Budget Monitoring Tables 2025-26 P9 December 2025 · Committee report
Appendix 3 - 2025-26 PIER Savings P9 · Committee report
Final ESC report Mar 2026 · Committee report
Overview and Scrutiny Committee minutes · Committee minutes
Q3 O&S Work Programme 2025-2026 · Committee report
Updated Printed plan Forward Plan of Cabinet Decisions from 25th March to July 2026 Cabinet · Committee report

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