Councillor Sachin Tulyani has raised concerns about the wording used to describe the council's Financial Sustainability
risk, suggesting it may not accurately reflect the underlying causes and could lead to misinterpretation by external observers.
During a meeting of the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee on Thursday, September 3, 2026, councillors reviewed the council's corporate risk register. Councillor Tulyani questioned the presentation of the financial sustainability risk, stating that the current wording, which cites unsustainable and unfunded growth and increase in demand
as the cause, could be misinterpreted. He argued that the risk is not that the council is actively creating unsustainable growth, but rather that assumptions made in growth plans may not materialise as expected, potentially leading to unsustainable or unfunded situations.
Councillor Tulyani proposed that the wording should better reflect that the cause is the potential divergence between planned assumptions and actual experience. He suggested that the report could be structured to present the risk event first, followed by its cause, and then the mitigations, to make the message clearer and avoid the impression that the council is intentionally creating unfunded plans. If somebody's looking at this from the outside... the impression that this gives is that, oh, you guys have growth plans, and your growth plans are, for whatever reason, unsustainable and unfunded, which is actually not the case at all,
he stated, highlighting the potential damage to public trust.
Officers acknowledged the point, agreeing that the presentation could be clearer and that the wording might be open to misinterpretation. They committed to reviewing the presentation of this risk offline to ensure it accurately conveys the council's position.
The meeting refers to growth plans that are updated on an annual basis, specifically mentioning the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) and Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP). Key assumptions within these plans include the council tax base growing at a certain percentage per year, and housing development meeting projected targets. For example, a specific assumption mentioned was the council tax base growing at 8% a year, with the caveat that actual growth might be lower, such as 6%, if housing undershoots projections. Officers acknowledged that these assumptions are based on the best intentions and technical work at the time of planning, but variables can change.
If the assumptions within the growth plans do not materialize as expected, the potential consequences for the council include budgets becoming inadequate, leading to in-year significant forecast overspends. This could result in unsustainable increasing future years budget shortfalls, potentially making a Section 114 notice unavoidable. Other consequences include the inability to deliver non-statutory services, a reduction in statutory services, and the need for exceptional financial support.
'Financial Sustainability' is identified as a key strategic risk for the council. While the exact current financial health is not explicitly stated as a single metric, the discussion highlights concerns about inadequate budgets, potential in-year overspends, and increasing future budget shortfalls. The risk score for 'Financial Sustainability' remains unchanged and is considered high, with the direction of travel also being flat. The magnitude of the risk is implied by the potential consequences, which include an unavoidable Section 114 notice, inability to deliver services, and the need for exceptional financial support.
The council's corporate risk register is reviewed and updated on a quarterly basis by the Strategic Leadership Team and is shared with members of the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee twice a year. The full public reports pack for the meeting can be found here.
