Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

(a)  To agree the minutes from the meeting of Cabinet on 10^th February 2026

(b)  Matters arising

The minutes of the meeting on 10^th February 2026 were agreed and signed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Report of the Director of Finance and Resources

Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer) which would also be considered by Council at its meeting on 24th February 2026, that calculated the Council Tax level for 2026/27 and made appropriate recommendations to Council, consistent with the Budget Report 2026/27.

The report recommended a 3.9% increase in the City’s Council Tax. Some figures and information, shaded grey in the report, were necessarily provisional due to precepts not having been confirmed at the time of publication.

The report incorporated the impact of the Council's gross expenditure and the level of income it would receive through Business Rates, grants, and fees and charges. This resulted in a Council Tax requirement, as the amount that its expenditure exceeded all other sources of income.

The report included a calculation of the Band D Council Tax that would be needed to generate this Council Tax requirement, based on the City's approved Council Tax base. The 2026/27 Band D Council Tax that was calculated through this process had increased by £82.98 from the 2025/26 level.

Each year the Government determined the maximum Council Tax increases that local authorities could set without triggering a referendum. For 2026/27, Coventry City Council’s Council Tax must be below 5%, as set out in the Secretary of State’s principles for 2026/27, comprising a 2% precept for expenditure on adult social care and a maximum of 3% for other expenditure. The recommendations within the Budget Report 2026/27 were based on a proposed increase in Council Tax of 3.9%, incorporating a core Council Tax rise of 2.9% and a 1% Adult Social Care Precept.

At the time of writing this report the precept from the Police and Crime Commissioner and the precept from the Fire and Rescue Authority had not been confirmed. The provisional figures provided in this report were based on indicative figures. The figures detailed in the recommendations below were subsequently confirmed as the final figures, at the meeting.

Members noted that the recommendations followed the structure of resolutions drawn up by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, to ensure that legal requirements were fully adhered to in setting the tax. As a consequence the wording of the proposed resolutions was necessarily complex.

RESOLVED that Cabinet recommend to Council the approval of recommendations (1) to (5) below:

(1)  To note the following Council Tax base amounts for the year 2026/27, as approved by Cabinet on 6 January 2026, in accordance with Regulations made under Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 ("the Act"):

a) 91,413.3 being the amount calculated by the Council as its Council Tax base for the year for the whole Council area;

b)  Allesley  498.7

  Finham  1,587.2

Keresley  744.4

being the amounts calculated by the Council as its Council Tax base for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items relate.

(2)  That the following amounts be now calculated by the Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

Report of the Director of Finance and Resources

Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer), which would also be considered at the meeting of Council on 24th February 2026, that followed on from the Pre-Budget Report approved by Cabinet on 16th December 2025 (minute 44/25 referred) which has since been subject to a period of public consultation. The proposals within the report now formed the basis of the Council's final revenue and capital budget for 2026/27 incorporating the following details:

•  Gross budgeted spend of £1,035.3m (£73.5m higher than 2025/26).

•  Net budgeted spend of £422.9m (£126.0m higher than 2025/26) funded from Council Tax, Business Rates and Business Rates top-up of £56.5m due to the 2026/27 impact of the Fair funding redistribution.

•  A Council Tax Requirement of £199.9m (£10.4m or 6% higher than 2025/26), reflecting a City Council Tax increase of 3.95% detailed in the separate Council Tax Setting report on today’s agenda.

•  A number of new expenditure pressures, policy investments and technical savings proposals.

•  A Capital Strategy including a Capital Programme of £165.9m including expenditure funded by Prudential Borrowing of £33.9m.

•  An updated Treasury Management Strategy, Capital Strategy, and a Commercial Investments Strategy.

•  Amendments to the Council Tax Support Scheme.

The financial position in this Budget Report was based on the Final 2026/27 Local Government Finance Settlement published on 9th February 2026. This settlement was a result of the implementation of the Fair Funding systems, Council Tax equalisation and Business Rates reset. This settlement included a multi (three) year settlement which took the Authority through to the end of the current CSR (comprehensive spending review) period of March 2029.

This 3-year settlement enabled a much better medium-term view of the Council’s finances from a resource perspective. The Government would reserve the right to review allocations each year, but indicative allocations would allow Councils to plan more effectively.  Demographic pressures were still expected to continue to increase as cost-of-living issues continued to affect individuals’ experience and expectations of when local authorities and Government would intervene to protect them. The next 3 years would continue therefore to create a very challenging environment in which the City Council would need to ensure Government funding together with local taxation decisions were sufficient to cover existing cost and emerging pressures including inflation.

In response the additional resources received by Coventry in the Final settlement and in conjunction with the consultation responses, final proposals within the Budget Report proposed a Council Tax increase of 3.95%. This incorporated a 2.95% Council Tax increase plus a further 1% Adult Social Care (ASC) Precept. The precept was to enable councils including Coventry to manage increases in the costs of care. In total, the rise in Council Tax bills would be the equivalent of around £1.48 a week for a typical Coventry household including the expected rises in the precepts for Police and Fire.

At the point of the pre-budget stage, reported to Cabinet in December 2025, the 2026/27 settlement and the impact of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

There are no outstanding issues

There were no outstanding issues.

There were no other items of public business.