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Gloucester City Council financial recovery progressing well as improvements take hold

Published
Gloucester City Council is making strong progress in getting its finances back on track, including completing its Statement of Accounts for 2025/26 within the statutory deadline for the first time since 2020/21. This marks an important step forward and reflects significant improvements in financial management and reporting over the past year.

The progress follows a period of financial challenge which came to light last summer, with issues traced back to a cyber incident affecting the Council’s IT systems in December 2021, leading to significant overspends in the following years which were unidentified at the time. Since the issues were discovered in September 2025, the Council has taken clear action to strengthen its financial systems, oversight and accountability.

The year-end position for 2025/26 shows an overspend of £1.125 million. This will be managed by adjusting the amount of Exceptional Financial Support allocated to 2025/26 from the borrowing agreed by the Government last December as part of an agreed recovery plan.

That plan focuses on:

  • delivering savings and improving financial performance
  • strengthening skills and capacity in key services such as Finance and Asset Management
  • improving budget monitoring and accountability
  • ensuring clear governance and communication

New budget monitoring arrangements introduced in December are already making a difference and this will continue to improve during 2026/27. Budget holders now work closely with dedicated finance officers and take part in monthly reviews, helping to improve understanding, ownership and control of spending.

Across services, there are positive signs. Private Sector Housing performed well, with increased enforcement activity and growth in HMO registrations bringing in additional income. This trend is expected to continue into 2026–27.

Parking income has also met expectations following changes earlier in the year, and the new Forum car park is seeing growing use. However, the Council continues to face rising costs for repairs, maintenance, security and day-to-day running of its car parks. Work is ongoing to manage these costs and ensure the service remains sustainable.

In Waste, Recycling and Streetcare, an overspend largely reflected older budget assumptions which have now been corrected. New charges for replacement bins have already reduced demand and brought in income, while bulky waste and garden waste services have performed strongly.

Some additional corporate costs were needed during the year for specialist advice and audit work. These were important steps to strengthen financial oversight and ensure the Council is operating on a sound footing.

Councillor Declan Wilson, Deputy Leader of Gloucester City Council, said:
"We have taken clear and determined action to address the challenges we faced since they came to light last summer, and it is encouraging to see real progress being made in the last few months. Completing our accounts on time is a significant milestone and shows that the improvements we’ve put in place are working. There is still more to do, and we still have some difficult decisions to make ahead, but we now have stronger systems, better oversight and a clearer understanding of our finances. That puts us in a far better position to continue our recovery and deliver for the people of Gloucester."

The 2025–26 Outturn report, which shows encouraging signs of recovery, will be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Monday 6 July and presented to Cabinet on 15 July.