Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2026/27 - 2030/31

The MTFS 2026/27 to 2030/31 has been developed:

• to reflect the funding required to support the corporate priorities and outcomes which are documented in the Corporate Plan and filtered down through group and service plans. Group and service plans will continue to evolve to include interventions and horizon scanning to enable resources to be directed appropriately for the delivery of council objectives
• to take into account the increasing demands for adult social care as a consequence of an increasingly aging population
• to take into account estimated increases in house building which will increase the population size of Gateshead, thereby increasing Council Tax revenue and supporting the financial stability of schools
• to take into account increases in the capital programme where investment in regeneration projects should boost the economy, housing and road networks
• by using prudent estimates of income and expenditure based on economic indicators such as inflation and net public sector borrowing as well as Government releases following the spending review

As previously stated, the MTFS is not a budget, it is the high-level financial plan which sets the context and the parameters in which the detailed budget planning can commence.

Therefore any, and all, assumptions contained within the MTFS will be reassessed and revised continuously with some assumptions, such as the level of Council Tax and adult social care precept increases, being the responsibility of Full Council and so therefore will not be decided until the budget setting in February.