Brighton and Hove Council Overspend Rises to £23.8 Million as It Seeks Up to £30 Million Support
Hove Town Hall, where Cabinet met on 15 October (Photo: Hassocks5489, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Brighton and Hove City Council is now forecasting a general fund overspend of £23.8 million for 2026/27, up almost £3 million in a single month, with a further £18.9 million of risks not yet counted. The figures are in the council’s Month 5 (August) budget monitoring report, which went to Cabinet on Thursday 15 October 2026.
The report says the overspend and the extra risks together exceed the council’s available reserves, and that the council has asked the government for up to £30 million more in exceptional financial support. The council describes that as additional borrowing, not additional funding.
Sources: Brighton and Hove City Council, Targeted Budget Management 2026/27 Month 5 report and Brighton and Hove News, 15 October 2026
Where the overspend sits
Adult social care and housing, reported together as Homes and Adult Social Care, account for more than half of the forecast overspend. Percentages show each area’s overspend against its own budget.
Forecast variances at Month 5. Source: council TBM report, Agenda Item 60, Cabinet, 15 October 2026.
How it has grown since July
We reported in August that the council was forecasting an overspend of almost £20 million at Month 2 and seeking government support. Read Brighton and Hove Council Forecasts Almost £20 Million Overspend and Seeks Government Support for that earlier position. Compared with those Month 2 figures, the Month 5 report shows every headline number higher.
Month 2 figures are from our August report. Month 5 figures are from the council’s TBM report. The schools overspend sits in the ring-fenced Dedicated Schools Grant, which the report puts at a cumulative deficit of £9.130m.
The report also says this year’s forecast started higher than in previous years and has kept rising through the first part of the year, the reverse of the pattern in earlier years.
What is driving it
The report says savings in service budgets are delivering well, with 71% either delivered or strongly expected, but that demand and rising costs are “overwhelming” the savings being made. It also points to the council’s commitment to the living wage, including for the organisations it contracts with, as part of the cost of social care.
The same report approves £1.4m of additional borrowing for the Madeira Terraces regeneration project and £0.524m for the asbestos programme, and records a £1m reduction in budget and borrowing for Valley Gardens Phase 3.
Exceptional financial support and the section 114 risk
The council’s chief finance officer says reserves are not enough to cover the overspend and that more exceptional financial support will be needed to balance the budget. The request to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is expected to be for up to £30 million.
“It should be noted that this is additional borrowing, not additional funding.”
Council chief finance officer’s conclusion, TBM Month 5 report
The report also sets out the consequence if the request is refused. It says the chief finance officer would be forced to issue a section 114 report, which is the formal notice a council must issue when it expects spending to exceed income and cannot balance its budget. It adds that the support is a short term solution, and that repaying it adds cost in later years.
What was said at Cabinet
Brighton and Hove News reports that Green councillor Ollie Sykes called the budget “lamentable”, said the council is in a worse position than at any time in the past 25 years, and said he intends to call the working budget in for further scrutiny. No date for a call-in has been given.
The same report says Deputy Leader Jacob Taylor, who leads on finance, described the support as a “bridge” towards a balanced position in the medium term through a transformation programme linked to government reforms, and ruled out shutting all libraries. Council Leader Bella Sankey said the finances are monitored exceptionally seriously and blamed the Greens for losing control when they were in administration. Read the full Brighton and Hove News report.
How the story developed
The same Cabinet meeting also considered the Royal Pavilion Gardens restoration, and you can see every report on the council’s Cabinet meeting page.
Sources
- Brighton and Hove City Council: Targeted Budget Management 2026/27 Month 5 (August), Cabinet Agenda Item 60, 15 October 2026
- Brighton and Hove City Council: Appendix 2, table of additional risks
- Brighton and Hove City Council: Cabinet agenda item page
- Brighton and Hove News: Council budget black hole worst in 25 years, 15 October 2026
More local stories are under News and Brighton and Hove on ImJustBrighton.
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