Appendix 4 BSD - 24.09.2025

Noted · Received for information; no decision followed.

Total Council carbon emissions fell by 36% compared with the 2019/20 baseline year, against a target reduction of 50%. p8

Sickness absence for the whole authority, excluding schools, was 2.08 days lost per full-time equivalent role in Q1, a decrease of 3.8% since Q1 the previous year, though stress and mental health remained the leading causes of absence. p18p20

The Council spent £398m with local suppliers over the past 12 months, equivalent to 61% of total procurement spend, above the 60% target. p22

The Directorate's 2025/26 net revenue budget is £31.264m, with a forecast overspend of £0.178m, while the £38.175m capital budget is forecast to be delivered within budget. p39

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• p8The total Council carbon emissions outturn for 2024/25 (reported a quarter in arrears) saw a 36% reduction (ref i) , compared to the baseline year 2019/20, against a target of 50%. Emissions for 2024/25 were 1.4% lower compared to 2023/24, versus the annual reduction target of 13%. Carbon emissions from the Council’s electricity consumption fell by 3% during 2024/25. As the grid carbon emissions factor remained the same in 2024/25 as in 2023/24, the 3% emissions reduction is principally down to the Council reducing its electricity use. The carbon emission factor is the figure used to convert electricity consumption from the national grid into equivalent carbon emissions. Carbon emission factors are produced each year by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and applied widely in the UK. The UK grid carbon emission factor changes from year to year to reflect the change in fuel mix in UK power stations (i.e. between renewables, nuclear, natural gas, oil and coal) and as the proportion of imported electricity also changes. The carbon emission factors used for reporting in 2024/25 are based on the fuel mix used in 2022, this is due to the time it takes to collate and analyse the data (more information can be found on the gov.uk conversion factors 2023 website ).
• p18The 2025/26 Q1 sickness absence figure for the whole authority (excluding schools) is 2.08 days lost per Full Time Equivalent (FTE) role, a decrease of 3.8% since Q1 last year. The year end estimate for 2025/26 (based on three month’s data) is 8.86 days/FTE, so the target of 9.10 days/FTE is predicted to be met.
• p20Stress and mental health continue to be the leading causes of absence: · stress-related absence increased by 126 days · overall mental health-related absence rose by 439 days
• p22Wellbeing Programme Enhancements: · Targeted workshops · Evaluation of support using the Most Significant Change method (e.g. Time to Talk feedback) · Expansion of the Mental Health First Aiders network · Ongoing Menopause Cafés P rocurement Procurement, contract and supplier management activities The Council has spent £398m with local suppliers over the past 12 months. This equates to 61% of our total procurement spend, which is above our target of 60%. 992 local suppliers were used. The Procurement team continues to promote our contract opportunities to local suppliers, as well as building local supply chain opportunities into our tenders where possible. Social Value
• p39The Windows 11 device refresh project continued at pace during Q1. With the end of support for Windows 10 approaching in October 2025, the project has now refreshed 82% of devices with those staff experiencing the benefits of a faster device and upgraded operating system. In order to extend the use of, and get better value from devices, we will now refresh them every 5 years (this was previously every 4 years). The scale at which this is done (across 3 councils through the Orbis Partnership) has many benefits and in this case, a saving of 18% per device has been achieved through this joint procurement. Revenue Budget Summary The 2025/26 Business Services net revenue budget is £31.264m. There are £1.060m planned savings in BSD this financial year (ref ii), of which £0.080m relating to the planned reduction in the cost of the Digital Postal Hub is not expected to be achieved at this time. The current outturn forecast is a £0.178m overspend (ref iv). In Property there is a forecast overspend of £0.178m (ref iii). This is attributed to the loss of income from a courier service contract to East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service which has now ended and increased procurement costs for the new Digital Postal Hub, which includes the unachieved savings target of £0.080m. No other service areas are reporting any variances at this stage although there is a risk to the full achievement of income for Business Admin as a result of the academisation of schools. Capital Programme Summary The 2025/26 capital budget is £38.175m. As at Q1 all projects are forecast to be delivered within the allocated budget (ref v). Performance exceptions Q1 : Priority – Making best use of resources now and for the future