Find out more about what was discussed at the November meeting of Warwickshire County Council's Cabinet.
Monitoring was at the heart of the November Cabinet meeting, with discussions covering the financial forecast following Quarter 2, performance against key indicators in the Council Plan and the financial health of the Council’s treasury and investments.
The financial monitoring report forecast deliverable savings of around £15.61m. Money from the Dedicated Schools Grant will be added to offset the deficit, leaving £3.659m to be funded from reserves.
The Treasury Management Report showed that investments stood at £251.5m, which is £33.7m lower than at the end of the previous financial year. This reduction reflects funds used for capital expenditure and measures to protect the Council from ongoing pressures caused by shortfalls in the Dedicated Schools Grant.
Performance monitoring against the Council Plan indicated that, of the 67 Key Performance Measures (out of 89) that can be reported after Quarter 2, 65.7% are delivering or achieved. Areas of strong performance included improvements in Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service’s average response times for life risk and property incidents, progress on digital connectivity, secondary school preference outcomes and the smoking quit rate.
Cabinet also approved allocating £322,710 to deliver the next stage of improvements to the Lias Line between Oxford Road and Birdingbury Road in Rugby. This scheme is fully funded by the government’s Active Travel programme, with no requirement for County Council contributions. It will create a traffic-free walking, cycling and wheeling route along the disused railway line between Leamington and Rugby.
Cllr Stephen Shaw, Warwickshire Country Council’s Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Property, said: “The Cabinet meeting last week was a chance to take stock and see where we are at the mid-point of the financial year. The meticulous financial reports presented to Cabinet give us a very clear picture of what finance is available to us and what we need to do to balance the books.
“Like all local authorities around the country, we are facing unsustainable pressure from demand in key areas including children’s and adults’ social care services, SEND and home to school transport. These are national challenges and the cost of services need to be reformed to make them sustainable for the future.
“Despite these pressures, which are out of the Council’s control, we have to work with what we have got and adjust to make more efficiencies. As part of our work to manage the budget, our Value for Money programme is looking to identify efficiencies, deliver more savings and bring revenue into the Council. "
The full meeting can be viewed here: WCC Cabinet - November 2025