Item 13 - General Services Revenue Budgetary Control Report to 31 March 2026 (Draft Outturn)
West Dunbartonshire Council · 17 June 2026
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Report by the Chief Officer – Resources Council – 17 June 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Subject: General Services Revenue Budgetary Control Report to 31 March 2026 (Draft Outturn) 1. Purpose 1.1 The purpose of this report is to advise Council on the draft outturn position of the 2025/26 Revenue Budget and the level of the General Fund Reserve as at 31 March 2026. 2. Recommendations 2.1 Council is asked to: I. note the overall favourable variance (underspend) on the General Fund Revenue Budget of £7.236m, an improvement in forecast of £4.090m since last reported (£3.146m). II. note a projected favourable variance (underspend) on the General Services Delivery Budget of £1.797m (0.60% of total budget), an improvement in forecast of £2.108m since last reported (£0.311m adverse at period 10). III. note a projected in-year use of earmarked reserves of £3.027m, offset by a transfer in of £8.439m to earmarked reserves and a transfer from unearmarked reserves of £1.173m thus increasing the overall forecast earmarked balance to £15.406m. IV. approve the transfer from free reserves of £2.260m to the Early Severance/Voluntary Early Retirement Reserve and £1.180m to the Smoothing Fund. 3. Background 3.1 The revised 2025/26 revenue budget presented to Council in March was £313.821m. 4. Main Issues Service Delivery Position 4.1 The summary report at Appendix 1 highlights a projected favourable variance (underspend) against General Services Delivery of £1.797m (0.60% of the total budget) and an overall favourable variance of £7.236m. This represents a £4.090m improvement in the position reported at P10. This is detailed in the table below. Appendix 2 provides more detailed service reports by Chief Officer, with explanations for the overspend provided in Appendix 3. ITEM 13
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£m £m Variance at Period 10 (3.146) Movement in Variance Resources: • Adverse variance due to an increase in iWorld Other favourable variances across the service • Favourable variance throughout service due to vacancies 0.120 (0.125) (0.005) Regulatory & Regeneration: • Increase in income within Licensing & planning (0.227) (0.227) People & Technology: • Favourable variance in Information Services due to phased telephony migration and ISDN transition to BT, alongside lower software costs from the M365 renewal and savings on printer leases and copies. • Favourable variance in Strategic People and Change mainly due to decreased cost of Occupational Health • Favourable variance across employee costs (0.147) (0.067) (0.029) (0.243) Education: • Favourable variance Specialist Education Provision due to reduction in transport recharge and lower inter-authority placement expenditure • Favourable variance Primary & Secondary schools due to recharge to Early years for shared campus facilities • Adverse Early Education due to higher than anticipated net cross-boundary charges and employee costs slightly greater. • PPP Favourable variance due to reduction in banked hours payment • Favourable variance Education Development as a result of no year end recharge to Counselling for a principal teacher following retirement • Favourable variance across other service areas (0.621) (0.126) 0.230 (0.067) (0.077) (0.028) (0.689) Roads & Neighbourhood: • Reduction in Waste Collection costs • Adverse Grounds Maintenance and Street Cleaning as a result of less income due to changes in programme of works • Favourable variance Roads Services due to vacancies and additional income from the service undertaking additional work for internal (0.270) 0.112 (0.246)
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services • Other adverse variance mainly as a result of under recovery of income 0.029 (0.433) Miscellaneous Services: • Underspend on unfunded pension costs & apprenticeship levy • Underspend on empty property costs • Underspend on payments to other bodies • Procurement savings not achieved • Increase in the Provision for Legal Fees (0.183) (0.176) (0.229) 0.435 0.450 0.297 Requisitions: • Underspend on VJB requisition (0.053) (0.053) Citizens, Culture and Facilities: • Additional payment to WDLT for Skypoint Security • Lower income from Early Years (Catering & Building Cleaning) • Misc Employee Costs 0.047 0.048 0.015 0.110 Housing and Employability: • Additional income received for resettlement (0.866) (0.866) Total Movement in Service Delivery variance (2.109) Non Service Budgets: • Underrecovery of central support costs due to reduced staff costs in the Central Support model due to the temporary reduction in pension costs. • Application of the general capital grant to absorb the principal cost of loan charges where statutory mitigation allows. 0.102 (1.561) (1.459) Total Movement in Non-Service Budget (1.459) Income: • Additional Council Tax Income (0.522) (0.522) General Fund variance on outturn at Period 12 (7.236) 4.2 Information on any projected annual variances in excess of £0.050m after the use of earmarked reserves, are highlighted and noted within Appendix 3. Earmarked Reserve Position 4.3 During 2025/26, services made use of £3.027m of earmarked reserves (Period 10: £2.601m). Information on the earmarked reserve spend and transfers in are shown in Appendix 4. Appendix 4 has been updated to reflect decisions agreed by Council on 4 March 2026, including earmarking of reserves to balance the 2026/27 budget and agreed use of the Cost of Living Fund.
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4.4 Appendix 5 shows the latest position in respect of Unallocated and Earmarked Reserves following the budget agreed on 4 March 2026 and shows the (draft) balance as at 31 March 2026. This is summarised in the table below. Unearmarked Balance (£m) Earmarked Balance (£m) Total General Fund Reserves (£m) As at 31 March 2025 3.451 8.821 12.272 In-year service use of reserves 0 (3.027) (3.027) Transfer to EMR 0 8.439 8.439 Transfer to/(from) general reserve 7.236 0 7.236 Total In-year movement as at Period 12 10.687 14.233 24.920 Transfer to/(from) reserves (1.173) 1.173 0 Balance as at 31 March 2026 9.514 15.406 24.920 4.5 At the budget setting meeting on the 6 March 2024 the decision was taken to use £3.077m of the Early Severance/Voluntary Early Retirement Reserve (ER/VER) temporarily to balance the budget which was to be replenished in future years. In 2025/26 the ER/VER Reserve was replenished by £1.192m. Therefore it is proposed to top up the ER/VER Reserve with a further £1.885m plus an additional £0.375m to provide resilience in future years. This increase of £2.26m is equivalent to twice the amount charged to the reserve during 2025/26. 4.6 A £6m Smoothing Fund was created in 2022/23 for a three year service transformation programme to provide time to implement approved savings options. At the budget setting meeting on 1 March 2023 Council agreed to use £3m of the Smoothing Fund to balance the budget. Over the past three years an average of £0.785m per year has been used leaving a residual balance of £0.654m in the reserve. Further savings will be required in future years to balance the budget and it is proposed to top up the balance by £1.180m to provide continued support to provide time to implement savings. 4.7 If the top up of the ER/VER reserve and the Smoothing Fund are approved then the Earmarked Reserve Balance would increase to £18.846m and the Unearmarked balance would decrease to £6.074m. This is £0.605m over the prudential target agreed on 4 March 2026 of £5.469m. Monitoring of Efficiencies 4.8 A list of agreed efficiencies and management adjustments totalling £6.017m is shown within Appendix 6. The appendix indicates that £5.513m was achieved. However, Appendix 6 also shows that £0.504m was not achieved and was funded in year by the smoothing fund.
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5. Option Appraisal 5.1 No option appraisal was required for this report. 6. People Implications 6.1 There are no people implications. 7. Financial and Procurement Implications 7.1 The report notes the projected in-year financial position for the General Services revenue budget. 8. Risk Analysis 8.1 The 25/26 outturn is presented as draft and may change as a result of the audit of 25/26 financial statements. 9. Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) 9.1 No equalities impact assessment was required in relation to this report. 10. Environmental Sustainability 10.1 No assessment of environmental sustainability was required in relation to this report. 11. Consultation 11.1 All services involved in delivering the revenue and capital budgets have been consulted in the compilation of this report. 12. Strategic Assessment 12.1 Proper budgetary control and sound financial practice are cornerstones of good governance and support Council and officers to pursue the strategic priorities of the Council’s current Strategic Plan. This report forms part of the financial governance of the Council. __________________ Laurence Slavin Chief Officer – Resources Date: 02 June 2026 __________________________________________________________________ Person to Contact: Carol Alderson. Finance Manager Council Offices, Church Street, Dumbarton E-mail: carol.alderson@west-dunbarton.gov.uk
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Appendices: Appendix 1 - Revenue Budgetary Control 2025/26 – Corporate Summary; Appendix 2 - Revenue Budgetary Control 2025/26 – Chief Officer Summaries; Appendix 3 - Analysis of Revenue Variances over £50,000; Appendix 4 - Monitoring of Earmarked Balances Appendix 5 - Reconciliation of General Fund Reserves Appendix 6 - Monitoring of Efficiencies Background Papers: • Ledger output – Period 12; • General Services Revenue Estimates 2025/26 Wards Affected All Wards