Issue - meetings

That the progress achieved during Q3 of 2025/26 be noted and the contents of report CAB3537 be endorsed.

Councillor Cutler introduced the report and advised that it had been considered at Scrutiny Committee on 4 March 2026, the minutes of which had been circulated to all members present. 

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillors Lee and Bolton addressed Cabinet as summarised below.

Councillor Lee

Councillor Lee welcomed the Q3 report and commended the work undertaken by officers to track the delivery of council plan priorities.   He raised specific queries regarding the decarbonisation of corporate buildings, seeking assurance that projects remained on schedule. Additionally, he requested further information on the waste performance target to understand whether the quarterly household waste figures were standalone measures or cumulative towards the annual target.

Councillor Bolton

Councillor Bolton expressed concern that the TC25 transformation programme had not delivered sufficient savings according to its original objectives.  He challenged the decision to drop specific TC25 monitoring from the performance report.   He further expressed concern that the presentation of savings blurred the distinction between cost reductions and revenue growth.

Councillor Cutler responded to the comments made including confirming that he was in discussions with officers on the best method of presenting the information requested in relation to performance on waste collection and would take the possible alternatives to Scrutiny Committee for their view.  Councillor Cutler and the Director (Finance) also responded to the comments in relation to the TC25 programme, emphasising that the LGR proposals had required a change in priorities.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set out in the report and outlined above.

RESOLVED:

That the progress achieved during Q3 of 2025/26 be noted and the contents of the report be endorsed.

That the Scrutiny Committee raises with the Deputy Leader or relevant Cabinet Member any issues arising from the information in this report, ref CAB3537, which is being presented to Cabinet on the 12 March 2026 and considers whether there are any items of significance to resolve or to be drawn to the attention of Cabinet.

Councillor Neil Cutler, Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation introduced the report, ref CAB3537 which set out the Q3 Finance and Performance Monitoring report for the 2025/26 financial year, (available here). The introduction included the following points.

1. The report covered the period from 1 October to 31 December for the 2025/26 financial year.
2. An update was provided regarding the programme highlight report for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), which was included in the Efficient and Effective council plan section.
3. Highlights from the quarter included the introduction of four food waste collection rounds, the Winchester Sport and Leisure Park winning the regional public club centre of the year award, the exchange of contracts for 46 S106 units at Kings Barton, and the completion of the stage one consultation for the community governance review.

The committee was asked to raise with the Deputy Leader or relevant Cabinet member any issues arising from the information in this report, ref CAB3537, which was being presented to Cabinet on 12 March 2026 and to consider whether there were any items of significance to resolve or to be drawn to the attention of Cabinet.

The committee proceeded to ask questions and debate the report. In summary, the following matters were raised.

1. A question was asked regarding climate and corporate carbon neutrality, and whether anticipated carbon savings from decarbonising key corporate buildings were at risk.
2. Further clarification was sought on the housing retrofit progress; noting that although the programme showed accelerated progress, it remained amber, and assurance was sought on whether this trajectory kept the Council on track for EPC C commitments by 2030.
3. A question was raised regarding the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and whether the underlying financial pressures, such as void repair costs and spending on damp and mould, were sustainable heading into 2026/27.
4. Clarification was sought regarding nutrient mitigation solutions at Northington Road and Goodens, specifically whether chemical analysis was undertaken to measure outpourings before and after solutions were implemented, or if an algorithm was used.
5. A follow-up question was asked regarding whether the 15 other sites within the Itchen catchment area that had not yet been upgraded were being measured.
6. A question was asked regarding the repair to PV panels at the Vaultex car park, and whether this was due to vandalism or maintenance needs.
7. Clarification was requested regarding an application for the Smart Export Guarantee and whether this had been completed when the solar panels were first installed, including whether the same application process had been undertaken for the offices and the leisure centre. Additionally, a question was raised about the tender for surveys on solar panels for small properties and whether this duplicated similar work carried out on the council estate several years ago.
8. Clarification was sought regarding waste target GF5, specifically whether the quarterly figures were cumulative to meet the annual target of 420kg per household.
9. A question was asked regarding the introduction of Local Government Reorganisation and whether the TC25 programme had been removed from the report and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8