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Financial Risks Analysis 2025-26

Argyll and Bute Council · 20 February 2025
Back to Budget Pack — 20 February 2025 and its agenda

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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL
FINANCIAL SERVICES
COUNCIL
27 FEBRUARY 2025
FINANCIAL RISKS ANALYSIS 2025-26  
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
1.1 The main purpose of this report is to provide a summary of the key financial risks
facing the council.   
1.2 A number of council wide financial risks, both revenue and capital, have been
identified, in addition to specific departmental or service risks.  For each
departmental risk, the potential annual financial impact has been quantified, and
the likelihood of the risk materialising assessed, based on a standard risk matrix. 
1.3  There are currently 7 council wide revenue risks identified for 2025-26, with a
potential annual value totalling £8.1m, and with varying degrees of likelihood. 
1.4 There are currently 30 departmental risks, with a potential annual value totalling
£3.2m, of which 4 are categorised as ‘Likely’.   
1.5 Financial risks are monitored and reviewed on an ongoing basis, with actions put
in place to continue to mitigate or manage these risks.

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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL
FINANCIAL SERVICES
COUNCIL
27 FEBRUARY 2025
FINANCIAL RISKS ANALYSIS 2025-26  
2. INTRODUCTION 
2.1 This report outlines the process and approach to financial risk assessment and
provides details of the currently known key financial risks facing the council in
2025-26. 
3 DETAIL 
3.1 Introduction 
3.1.1 The council is currently in a period of significant financial challenge.  In developing
its budget to address both funding, and cost and demand pressures,
consideration is given to financial risk.  However, both existing and new or
emerging financial risks require to be monitored and reviewed on an ongoing
basis throughout the year, with actions put in place to mitigate or manage these
risks.  Risks that cannot be mitigated or managed may have a detrimental impact
on the financial position of the council. 
3.1.2 There are a number of risks that may impact income or expenditure across the
entire council.  These are identified as council wide risks.  In addition, specific
financial risks impacting each department or service of the council have been
considered.  These are identified as departmental/service risks.  A de-minimis 
level of £50k has been applied.  Risks with a potential annual risk value below this
level are expected to be managed within the relevant overall service budget. 
3.1.3 For each risk, the potential annual financial impact has been quantified and the
likelihood assessed based on the following standard risk matrix: 
1 – Remote
2 – Unlikely
3 – Possible
4 – Likely
5 – Almost Certain 
3.2 
3.2.1
Council Wide Risks 
General 
There is a risk of further severe weather incidents, requiring both revenue and
capital expenditure to be incurred.  Whilst there may be additional funding
available through the Bellwin Scheme, this is limited to eligible revenue
expenditure and there is an assumption that local authorities will budget to cover
a proportion of the costs of emergency incidents from within internal resources. 
The threshold over and above where Councils’ can claim for eligible expenditure

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is 0.2% of a local authority's budgeted net revenue expenditure and, for 2024-
2025, this equates to £0.558m for Argyll and Bute Council.  There is no provision
for additional costs in this respect within either the 2025-26 Revenue Budget or
the 2025-28 Capital Plan.  The potential additional costs are difficult to estimate
by their very nature, however, a potential risk value of £2m is deemed to be
reasonable. 
Revenue 
3.2.2 The 2025-26 budget includes a 3% pay award assumption across all workforce
categories, at all grades.  This is based on the Public Sector Pay Policy of 9%
over the 3 years 2025-26 to 2027-28 and whilst the increase could vary across
the years, the envelope of 9% has been profiled within the budget at 3% each
year.  Pay negotiations have still to commence.  In 2024-25, the pay award was
an average of 3.6% for SJC and Chief Officers, and 4.27% for teachers.  The
Scottish Government provided additional funding towards the cost of increases
above 3.2%.  There is a risk that the agreed pay award may vary from the budget
assumption, which may require to be funded by the council.  A potential annual
risk value equivalent to 1% of the annual pay budget for council employees,
including Social Work employees is deemed reasonable.  This equates to £1.8m.
It is hoped that any award above 3% would be covered by additional Scottish
Government funding.  This position will be monitored and reviewed on an ongoing
basis throughout the year.   
3.2.3 Whilst the 2025-26 approved budget provides for inflationary increases, there is a
risk of continued volatility in utilities pricing and demand can also be subject to
unpredictable weather extremes.  A potential annual risk value equivalent to 5%
of the annual utilities budget provision is deemed reasonable.  This equates to
£0.4m. 
3.2.4  In respect of the Health and Social Care Partnership, it is the responsibility of the
Chief Officer and Chief Financial Officer to manage the HSCP financial position. 
If an overspend is forecast, a budget recovery plan will be prepared and
submitted to the IJB, Argyll and Bute Council and NHS Highland.  Where recovery
plans are unsuccessful and an overspend occurs at the financial year end, and
there are insufficient reserves to meet the overspend, then the partners will be
required to make additional payments to the HSCP.  The council would have to
contribute towards any overspend related to Social Work.  Whilst any additional
payments by the council and NHS Highland will be deducted from future years
funding, there is a risk that the council may require to make an additional
unbudgeted contribution to the HSCP during the year.  The financial situation
facing Social Work is extremely challenging due to increase in demand,
complexity of cases, increasing costs and difficulty recruiting permanent staff and
therefore having to rely on agency staff, at an additional cost.  At the time of
writing this report, the forecast Social Work budget for 2025-26 has a £1.3m
funding gap, after accounting for additional contributions from the council in
respect of ENICs and pay award budget assumptions.  There also is a risk in
respect of commissioned providers ENICs costs being passed on, which equates
to an estimated additional cost of around £1.3m.  At this stage, the overall

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potential annual risk value has been quantified at £2.6m but it is hoped that the
level of risk could be reduced prior to the IJB setting their budget. 
3.2.5 The estimated level of Council Tax income is based on current and forecast Band
D equivalents, and reflects our expected collection rates, based on historical data. 
A potential annual risk value equivalent to 1% of the annual Council Tax income
budget is deemed reasonable.  This equates to £0.7m. 
3.2.6 
3.2.7 
The 2025-26 Budget Pack includes both Operational/Management and Policy
savings options, totalling £3.093m.  Whilst the council has a good track record in
delivering savings, there is a risk that this target will not be fully delivered.  A
potential annual risk value equivalent to a 10% shortfall in the annual savings
target is deemed reasonable.  This equates to £0.3m. 
There is an ongoing requirement to fund unavoidable inflationary cost increases
across a number of areas such as, food and fuel.  The Bank of England is
currently forecasting that inflation will continue to fall throughout the year, towards
the 2% government target.  This position will continue to be closely monitored,
with financial forecasts updated to reflect information available on an ongoing
basis.  The annual budget is underpinned by inflationary assumptions, however,
there is a risk that inflationary impacts have been under-estimated. A potential
annual risk value equivalent to 10% of the inflationary assumptions in respect of
relevant non-pay budgets is deemed reasonable.  This equates to £0.3m. 
Capital 
3.2.8 The Finance Circular received on 12 December 2024 provided details of
government grant funding for 2025-26.  There is therefore a degree of certainty in
respect of General Capital Grant and available specific capital grant funding.  At
the time of writing, the council’s share of an additional £40m Climate Emergency
Fund, to be paid as General Capital Grant has still to be confirmed.  The Capital
Plan has assumed additional funding of £0.964m in this respect.  Any variation in
the final allocation from this assumption will require to be managed within the
overall Capital Plan resources.   
3.2.9  The funding framework for the approved Capital Plan includes capital receipts
from asset sales, estimated at £0.750m in 2025-26 and £1.750m over the 3 years
2025-28.  This is based on an assessment provided by the Estates Team in
January 2025, however, is subject to changing market conditions.  The level of
receipts that may reasonably be achieved will be kept under review, to reflect
changing market conditions and due diligence undertaken on asset condition. 
Any variation from this assumption will require to be managed within the overall
Capital Plan resources. It is generally the case that the capital programme
experiences slippage throughout the year and as such, this risk is expected to be
manageable.   
3.2.10 The capital programme continues to see significant price increases, as well as
disruptions to the supply chain and longer lead in times, due to the impact of
world events (Covid pandemic, UK exit from EU, Russian invasion of Ukraine) on
the global economy. Additional funding of £11m, made available to manage these

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impacts to date, has now been fully allocated.  There are likely to be other
significant cost pressures in respect of projects, where contracts have yet to be
entered into, which are not quantifiable, at this stage.  It will be challenging to
manage these impacts within available resources and target completion
timescales. Actions to manage financial risk within available resources may
include re-profiling, project redesign, re-engineering or curtailment, and the re-
prioritisation of uncommitted resources across the programme. 
3.2.11 
3.2.12
The Capital Plan monitoring report, as of 31 December 2024, outlines a forecast
overspend on the 2024-27 Capital Plan of £0.117m.  Members will be requested
to approve additional resources in this respect, as part of the 2025-26 budget
process.   
The council wide risks are summarised within the following table: 
Description  Likelihood
Assessed
Financial
Impact
£m
Unbudgeted Severe Weather costs 3 2.0
Pay Award exceeding 3% 3 1.8
Energy costs increase by 5% greater than
budgeted
3 0.4
IJB refer to Council for additional funding to
deliver social work services 
3 2.6
1% variation in Council Tax Income 2 0.7
10% shortfall on Savings delivery 2 0.3
10% variation on General Inflation 3 0.3
Total     8.1 
3.3 Departmental/Service Risks 
3.3.1 It should be noted that the council has a good track record of delivering services
within budget, however, there are specific financial risks impacting each council
department or service.  The detail of each departmental financial risk is included
within Appendix 1.  The following table provides a summary of the number of risks
within each department, across each likelihood category, together with the
potential annual financial impact value. 
Department 1 - Remote 2 - Unlikely 3 - Possible 4 - Likely 5 - Almost
Certain Total
No £000 No £000 No £000 No £000 No £000 No £000
Chief
Executive's
Unit
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Executive
Director
Douglas
Hendry
0 0 5 360 8 575 2 360 0 0 15 1,295

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Executive
Director Kirsty
Flanagan
4 375 2 250 7 1,065 2 250 0 0 15 1,940
Total 4 375 7 610 15 1,640 4 610 0 0 30 3,235 
3.3.2  The current top 4 risks in terms of the financial impact are noted in the table below. 
SERVICE  TITLE OF
RISK 
DESCRIPTION OF RISK LIKELIHOOD
FINANCIAL
IMPACT
£000
Council Wide
- Commercial
Services
Council Wide
Central
Repairs
Increased demands on central
repair budgets (CRA) due to a
decrease in Capital funding,
increase in statutory and
emergency repairs and
increases in supplier/contractor
charges.  This impacts on all
departments of the Council
with a Central Repairs Budget.
4 300
Roads and
Infrastructure
Services
Roads
Maintenance
- Roads
Network
Adverse weather conditions
result in deterioration of the
road network necessitating
greater spend on repair of
defects.
3 230
Roads and
Infrastructure
Services
Car Parking
Income
Reduced number of visitors to
the area and use of Council
owned car parks resulting in a
reduction in income.
3 200
Roads and
Infrastructure
Services
Piers &
Harbours
Income
Changes to ferry services
resulting in reduced berthing
and passenger income.
3 200 
3.3.3 The risks that are categorised as ‘likely’ are outlined in the table below. 
SERVICE  TITLE OF
RISK 
DESCRIPTION OF RISK LIKELIHOOD
FINANCIAL
IMPACT
£000
Council Wide
- Commercial
Services
Council Wide
Central
Repairs
Increased demands on central
repair budgets (CRA) due to a
decrease in Capital funding,
increase in statutory and
emergency repairs and
increases in supplier/contractor
charges.  This impacts on all
departments of the council with
a Central Repairs Budget.
4 300
Development
and
Economic
Growth
Homelessne
ss
Temporary
Accommodat
ion Income
Unpredictable number of
Homeless applications.
Inability to recover rent. 
Increase costs of property
maintenance and tenancy
change over.
4 150
Roads and
Infrastructure
Services
Fleet
Maintenance
Increased costs to maintain
internal fleet due to inflationary
increases on vehicles parts.
4 100

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Legal and
Regulatory
Support
Elections More than 1 by-election
required outwith standard
election cycle.
4 60 
3.4 Monitoring of Financial Risks 
3.4.1 Financial risks are monitored and reviewed on an ongoing basis, with actions put
in place to continue to mitigate or manage these risks.  The updated position on
financial risks will continue to be regularly reported to Policy and Resources
Committee.     
3.5 Potential Future Risks 
3.5.1 There is a risk that changes to government policy may require to be implemented
by the council, with associated unbudgeted costs not fully met by additional
funding.  For example, an extension to funded childcare to all 1 and 2 year olds
across Scotland. 
3.5.2 The Council’s bid to the Scottish Governments Learning Estate Investment
Programme (LEIP) for funding for a new school campus on Mull was successful
and a report was considered by Council on 24 April 2024.  Approval was granted
to utilise £5m of £9m previously earmarked funds to develop the Business Case. 
The Scottish Government will fund up to 50% of eligible costs and the estimated
cost is £43m, with £41m deemed eligible, however these are just estimates at this
stage.  The Council will need to make a decision as to whether to proceed once
the project has been tendered.  There is a risk that the cost will be higher than
estimated but no estimates have been built into the capital plan at this stage.   
3.5.3 Looking ahead to 2026/27, as part of the regular three-year review of the rateable
value of commercial properties across Scotland for non-domestic rates charges,
there will be a full revaluation of all of the Council’s properties by the local
Assessor’s Office which is likely to result in an increase in the Council’s non-
domestic rates charges. At this point, pending the completion of the reviews and
recognising that there is no reliable historic trend data which could be used to
forecast the outcome, the extent of the likely increase is extremely uncertain. In
addition, the Council is awaiting the outcome of circa 60 appeals lodged in
respect of the 2023/24 revaluation, the outcomes of which could have a significant
impact on the Council’s future non-domestic rates liability. 
4 CONCLUSION 
4.1 This report summarises the known key financial risks facing the council in 2025-
26.  There are 7 council wide risks and 30 departmental risks identified, with 4
categorised as ‘Likely’.  These risks are monitored and reviewed on an ongoing
basis, with actions put in place to continue to manage or mitigate the risks.   
5 IMPLICATIONS 
5.1 Policy None
5.2 Financial  Outlines the potential annual value of financial risks.

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5.3 Legal  None
5.4 HR  None
5.5 Fairer Scotland Duty  
5.5.1 Equalities None
5.5.2 Socio-Economic Duty None
5.5.3 Islands Duty None
5.6 Climate Change None
5.7 Risk Provides details of financial risks.
5.8 Customer Service None 
5.9 The Rights of the Child
(UNCRC)
None 
Kirsty Flanagan
Executive Director/Section 95 Officer
13 February 2025 
Councillor Ross Moreland, Policy Lead for Finance and Commercial Services 
APPENDICES
Appendix 1 – Detail of Department/Service financial risks. 
For further information contact Carolyn Earl, Acting Head of Financial Services
carolyn.earl@argyll-bute.gov.uk

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APPENDIX 1
DEPARTMENT/SERVICE FINANCIAL RISKS 2025-26
DEPARTMENT SERVICE TITLE OF RISK DESCRIPTION OF RISK MITIGATING ACTIONS IN PLACE
LIKELIHOOD
FINANCIAL
IMPACT
£000
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Commercial Services Catering Costs - Provision of
Meals to Early Years Children
The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act placed duties
on Councils to provide meals in an Early Years setting to
entitled children where sessions span over lunch time.  The
total quantum of grant funding is reducing and may not be
sufficient to fund the additional costs depending on uptake
and the additional costs to support the meal provision in
partner provider settings.
Joint strategy with procurement colleagues to reduce
potential impact of supplier charges.  Control food
wastage/portion controls.
2 100
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Commercial Services Catering Purchases Increased supplier charges and higher than average inflation
on food costs.  In addition to this the Scottish Government
reviewed the regulations that govern the food and drinks
provided in schools and implemented revised regulations. 
The revised standards focus on reducing sugar, reducing red
processed meat and increasing fibre. Thus far, there has
been an increase in costs in produce and a reduction in
demand for school meals.
Joint strategy with procurement colleagues to reduce
potential impact of supplier charges.  Control food
wastage/portion controls; introduction of online ordering
to help manage food waste. Analysis and regular review
of menu choices.
2 100
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Commercial Services Rental Income from Properties Due to current economic climate, there may be reduced
ability to recover rental income from leased properties or
place suitable tenants in properties as leases come to an end.
Management of leasehold properties by Estates team,
any issues with debt recovery being dealt with in line with
Council debt recovery policy.
2 60
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Commercial Services Surplus Properties Ongoing market difficulties lead to increased numbers of
surplus properties, in addition, as Our Modern Workspace
Project gains traction more properties will become surplus to
operational requirements. There are residual running costs
associated with all surplus properties.
One Council property team in place who will monitor
market conditions and work with prospective tenants/
purchasers to let/sell surplus properties.
3 50
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Commercial Services Leisure Service Level
Agreements
Increase in RPI and/or other running costs (eg utilities,
payroll etc) resulting in requests for additional funding.
Monitoring annual alteration to contract RPI rate,
communication with service providers and mitigation
through financial forecasting and review of existing
budget.
3 50
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Commercial Services LiveArgyll Service Fee Inability to deliver required services within available budget
resources (e,g. pay award and ENICs budget pressures),
resulting in increased service fee request.
Communication with service providers and mitigation
through monitoring and review of budget monitoring
information and forecasts.
3 100
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Council Wide - Commercial
Services
Council Wide Central Repairs Increased demands on central repair budgets (CRA) due to a
decrease in Capital funding, increase in statutory and
emergency repairs and increases in supplier/contractor
charges.  This impacts on all departments of the Council with
a Central Repairs Budget.
Joint strategy with procurement colleagues to reduce
potential impact of supplier/contractor charges. Close
monitoring of central repairs budgets and commitments
and instructing only statutory tests/inspections and
essential repairs.
4 300
2025-26

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APPENDIX 1
DEPARTMENT/SERVICE FINANCIAL RISKS 2025-26
DEPARTMENT SERVICE TITLE OF RISK DESCRIPTION OF RISK MITIGATING ACTIONS IN PLACE
LIKELIHOOD
FINANCIAL
IMPACT
£000
2025-26
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Education ASN Support Demand for ASN support continues to increase. Scottish
Government statistics suggest a 3% year on year increase,
resulting in an additional resource requirement, particularly
where gaps in our enhanced provision exist. The medium-
term detriments on the development of young children
which occurred as a consequence of service closures during
the COVID pandemic have increased demands on the service
as children require additional support to catch up.  The
Additional Support for Learning National Implementation
plan continues to inform our strategic direction in line with
the Angela Morgan Review.
The Scottish Government has committed to provide
additional resource for ASL from 2025-26, to allow
Council to take forward the aims and objectives of
Additional Support for Learning Programme.  In addition
to this the Service is currently looking at alternative
options for service delivery to mitigate budget pressures
and are considering a formula-based approach from
August 2025. Both above actions have allowed the Service
to reduce the likelihood as well as the value of the risk.  
2 50
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Education Pre-Five Units - retention of
partner providers
Failure in the commissioning or retention of pre-five partner
provider units to deliver 1140 hours would result in an
increased pressure on the Council to deliver the service.
Annual financial appraisal; Support network; Short-term
cash injections.
3 100
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Education Legislative Requirements -
Education (Scotland) Act
The Education (Scotland) Act 2000 requires Councils to
undertake assessments of the need for the provision of
Gaelic Medium Primary Education (GMPE) and the duty to
support and promote Gaelic Education. This may lead to
additional staffing requirements depending upon the
demand for Gaelic from parents.
Continuous monitoring and review of the service model
and resources available within budget.
3 50
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Legal and Regulatory
Support
Contract RPI for NPDO and Hub
Schools
Increase in RPI would result in higher costs. Monitoring annual alteration to contract RPI rate and
mitigation through financial forecasting and review of
existing budget.
3 100
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Legal and Regulatory
Support
NPDO - Increase in insurance
costs within NPDO Schools
Increase in insurance costs as a result of the long-term
effects of Covid-19 on the insurance market and flood claims.
Monitoring annual alteration to contract insurance rate
and mitigation through financial forecasting and review of
existing budget.
3 75

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APPENDIX 1
DEPARTMENT/SERVICE FINANCIAL RISKS 2025-26
DEPARTMENT SERVICE TITLE OF RISK DESCRIPTION OF RISK MITIGATING ACTIONS IN PLACE
LIKELIHOOD
FINANCIAL
IMPACT
£000
2025-26
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Legal and Regulatory
Support
Elections By-election(s) required outwith standard election cycle. Outwith direct management control. 4 60
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Legal and Regulatory
Support
Legal Services - Litigation Increased number of litigation cases. Ensure Legal Services are gateway to access all legal
advice and that advice is sought at earliest opportunity.
3 50
Executive Director
Douglas Hendry
Legal and Regulatory
Support
NPDO/Hub DBFM contract
management efficiencies
Reduction in ability to generate contract management
efficiencies.
Monitoring annual efficiencies generated and mitigation
through robust contract management and application of
contract specifications / requirements.
2 50
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Customer Support Services Software Licences Potential risk of being under licensed for software which will
be identified via software audits which would incur additional
costs.
ICT security and compliance officer in post and duties
include review of systems to ensure fully licenced. 
2 100
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Development and Economic
Growth
Homelessness Temporary
Accommodation Income
Unpredictable number of Homeless applications. Inability to
recover rent.  Increase costs of property maintenance and
tenancy change over.
Provision of Housing Options information and advice
service to minimise number of applicants proceeding to
full homeless application. Implementation of Rapid
Rehousing Plan.
4 150
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Development and Economic
Growth
Dangerous Buildings
Interventions
Building Standards having to deal with an increasing level of
dangerous building work which has significant financial
implications for the Council.
Monitor activity and seek to recover costs from the
owner(s) of the affected buildings.
3 100
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Development and Economic
Growth
Planning Fee Penalties Potential that the Scottish Government may apply sanction
penalties due to poor performance by the Planning
Authority. The Scottish Government has recently appointed a
national Planning Performance Champion however the detail
of how this role intends to incentivise improvement/penalise
poor performance at a local authority level remains unclear
at this time
Maintain high levels of performance as articulated by
performance markers detailed in Planning Performance
Framework annual report.
1 100
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Development and Economic
Growth
Planning Fee Shortfalls Planning fees subject to impact of wider economic position
on building activity.  There is a risk that planning fee income
will be adversely impacted by wider economic challenges,
leading to revenue budget pressures.
Will continue to closely monitor Development
Management income and expenditure and investigate
further income generation streams.
1 100

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APPENDIX 1
DEPARTMENT/SERVICE FINANCIAL RISKS 2025-26
DEPARTMENT SERVICE TITLE OF RISK DESCRIPTION OF RISK MITIGATING ACTIONS IN PLACE
LIKELIHOOD
FINANCIAL
IMPACT
£000
2025-26
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Development and Economic
Growth
Building Warrant Fee Shortfalls Building Warrant fees subject to impact of wider economic
position on building activity.  There is a risk that planning fee
income will be adversely impacted by wider economic
challenges, leading to revenue budget pressures.
Continue to closely monitor Building Standards income
and expenditure and investigate further income
generation streams.
1 50
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Financial Services Council Tax Debt Collection
Recovery
Recovery of debt becomes more difficult to pursue in the
current economic climate.  This is in relation to historical
debt that has accumulated over many years therefore any
adverse collection rates will impact on the year end bad debt
provision.
Robust monitoring of arrangements with debt collection
agency and performance against target collection rates.
Also enhanced data sharing with HMRC will further
increase recovery opportunities.
2 150
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Financial Services Housing Benefit Subsidy Loss of Housing Benefit Subsidy due to exceeding LA error
threshold.
Processes in place for handling of claims accurately and
efficiently.
1 125
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Financial Services Sundry Debt Recovery Recovery of debt becomes more difficult to pursue in the
current economic climate. 
Additional staff are being put in place in the Sundry Debt
Team who will work jointly with Legal Services to enhance
the robustness of the Council's debt recovery processes.
3 85
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Roads and Infrastructure
Services
Roads Maintenance - Roads
Network
Adverse weather conditions result in deterioration of the
road network necessitating greater spend on repair of
defects.
Manage maintenance budgets to ensure that spend is
prioritised to deal with safety defects.
3 230
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Roads and Infrastructure
Services
Car Parking Income Reduced number of visitors to the area and use of Council
owned car parks resulting in a reduction in income.
Closely monitor income levels throughout the year,
especially in high visitor seasons.
3 200
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Roads and Infrastructure
Services
Piers & Harbours Income Changes to ferry services resulting in reduced berthing and
passenger income.
Closely monitor passenger number information coming
from CalMac to identify any emerging trends in relation to
reducing passenger numbers.
3 200
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Roads and Infrastructure
Services
Winter Maintenance Adverse weather conditions which require greater than
budgeted number of gritting runs.
Monitor weather conditions and apply gritting policy to
minimise costs.
3 150
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Roads and Infrastructure
Services
Street Lighting Age of lighting stock requires greater maintenance as health
and safety becomes a consideration.
Manage maintenance budgets to ensure that spend is
prioritised to deal with safety defects.
3 100
Executive Director
Kirsty Flanagan
Roads and Infrastructure
Services
Fleet Maintenance Increased costs to maintain internal fleet due to inflationary
increases on vehicle parts.
Review of fleet underway to determine where reductions
could possibly be made.
4 100
30 3,235