Rising fuel costs among reasons for council's forecast £34,000 overspend
South Kesteven District Council says it remains within its overall budget margins
Rising fuel costs are among the factors behind a forecast £34,000 overspend on South Kesteven District Council's budget, officials have said.
Members of the council's finance and economic overview and scrutiny committee were told the authority is predicted to face an overspend of more than £30,000 on its general fund revenue for the 2026/27 financial year.
At a meeting on Tuesday 22nd September, the cabinet member for finance, Bridget Ley, said rising fuel prices in recent months had led to the council spending more on fuel than it had budgeted for.
She also said a reduction in investment income, due to lower than expected average cash balances, had contributed to the projected overspend.
The council's deputy chief executive, Richard Wyles, said the conflict in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine had led to soaring global oil prices, and that the authority had not planned for such a significant spike in costs.
"At that particular point, we weren't anticipating it," Mr Wyles said.
"So, it is volatile, but we are still within the margins of our budget," he said.
Mr Wyles said the council had recorded an underspend on its Internal Drainage Board levies, because it had budgeted for them to be much higher than they turned out to be.
He explained the authority had set the levies at a 10% increase based on 2025/26 levels, and said Internal Drainage Board levies in South Kesteven had actually increased by four to five per cent on average.
Mr Wyles said the council has no control over the levy, but had received a windfall grant from the government.
"We are still frustrated that we don't get a full reimbursement for the levy that's borne by our residents, but we did get a windfall grant which came in after the budgets were set, which is why we have seen a little bit of an uptick on that level as well," he said.