The latest snapshot of the city Council’s budget shows continued evidence of responsible financial management, with a modest forecast overspend despite continuing pressure on services.

At the end of the first quarter of the 2026-2027 financial year, there was a forecast overspend in the revenue budget of £234,000, which is much reduced from those experienced at this point in previous years. Much of the additional pressure has come from rising demand in Adult and Children’s Social Care, which has been the picture across the country for several years. However this is offset by mitigating actions across other Council services.

The Quarter 1 Financial Monitoring report will go to the next Cabinet meeting on Wednesday 5 August. Some updates have been made to the budget since it was approved in February, as the Government has now confirmed the Council’s final funding allocations for this year.

Councillor Hardyal Dhindsa, Cabinet Member for Finance, Governance and Digital, said:

This is a really positive report which shows that we are containing the pressure so far this year. The services where we are seeing more cost pressures are well-known.

There was an additional £56 million invested into services in this year’s budget, mostly because of the Government’s Fair Funding Review, which re-distributed resources to councils across the country on a more equitable basis. This favoured Derby because of our low funding position compared to other councils.

This has enabled us to invest more into services where people want to see a visible difference this year. Much of this work is seasonal, so we are looking forward to seeing the impact as the year progresses.

However sound financial management also means continuing to make savings where we can, paying into our reserves to maintain them at a healthy level, and investing in non-frontline services where required to ensure good governance for the benefit of our residents. 

At Quarter 1, 87% of target savings of £7.1million are forecast to be achieved. The General Reserve balance stands at £15.8 million which is at recommended levels.

The Cabinet meeting starts at 2pm and can be viewed live on the Council’s YouTube channel.