Cabinet approves refreshed financial strategy to maintain path to sustainability

Slough Borough Council's Cabinet, this evening (20 July 2026), considered a refreshed Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), providing an updated financial roadmap that will help the council respond to emerging pressures while maintaining its long-term plan to restore financial sustainability.

The refreshed strategy extends the council's financial planning horizon to 2029/30 and updates assumptions around inflation, funding, service demand and borrowing costs. It will form the foundation for developing the council's draft budget for 2027/28 later this year.

The update identifies significant challenges facing the council, including increasing demand in children's services, adult social care and temporary accommodation, alongside wider economic pressures affecting local authorities across the country.

Despite these challenges, the refreshed MTFS confirms the council's overall financial strategy remains unchanged. The council remains committed to ending reliance on Exceptional Financial Support by 2028/29, rebuilding reserves, reducing debt and delivering a sustainable financial position that supports residents and services over the long term.

The refreshed strategy recognises the scale of financial pressures facing the council has increased since the budget was approved in March. However, by identifying these issues early, the MTFS gives the council the stability, visibility and planning framework needed to respond proactively rather than reactively.

Having a robust multi-year financial strategy allows the council to assess risks, plan savings and transformation programmes over a longer period, and make informed decisions that support both service delivery and financial resilience.

Councillor Ejaz Ahmed, Lead Member for Corporate Resources, said: "The challenges set out in this report are significant and reflect the pressures being experienced by councils across the country.

“However, the importance of the report is it provides a clear and realistic picture of those challenges and sets out our financial plan to address them.
 

“The Medium-Term Financial Strategy is an essential tool in maintaining stability. It allows us to look ahead, identify pressures early and act in a planned and responsible way, rather than waiting for issues to become more difficult and costly to resolve.
 

“While there will be difficult decisions ahead, this report confirms we have a clear strategy, a clear direction of travel and a continued commitment to restoring the council's financial resilience. This refresh ensures we remain on that path while responding to the new demands and risks that have emerged."

The council will use the refreshed MTFS to develop detailed budget proposals for 2027/28, with a draft budget due to be considered by Cabinet in November before final budget recommendations are presented to Council in February 2027.

Cabinet also considered updates to the capital programme and additional investment in children’s services.