Lichfield council's approved plan shows general reserves falling from £5.3m to £125,000 by 2030/31, below its £2m minimum. The plan is being reviewed.
Lichfield District Council’s general reserves are modelled to fall from about £5.3 million this year to £125,000 by 2030/31. Its own minimum level is £2 million.
The figures are in the medium term financial strategy report that went to Cabinet on 3 November. They come from the plan approved last February, before the annual refresh now under way (MTFS report, 3 November 2026).
The report does not call this a crisis. It says the council “will be able to implement a sustainable approach to balancing the budget”. But the gap has to be closed by some means, and the final decisions come in February.
The gap, year by year
The approved plan balances for 2026/27 and then falls short:
| Year | Spending | Funding | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027/28 | £15.441m | £15.391m | £50,000 |
| 2028/29 | £16.122m | £15.253m | £869,000 |
| 2029/30 | £16.952m | £14.824m | £2.128m |
| 2030/31 | £17.238m | £15.146m | £2.092m |
The report rates the last two years as high uncertainty. Reorganisation adds another question: on the current timetable, new councils take over in April 2029, so the last two years may fall to a different authority. The government has written to the council stressing that it must keep operating as a “going concern” until then.
The cinema has become a £19m project
The one big service investment is the Everyman cinema development in the former Debenhams. The quarterly finance report gives the current numbers (Money Matters report, 3 November 2026):
- £14.049m is the council’s project budget
- £2.999m more is set aside to buy out its joint venture partner
- £1.999m is coming from that partner
- £19.047m is the total, of which the council funds £17.048m
- £4.904m had been spent by 30 June 2026
The budget assumes the cinema will bring in £100,000 in 2028/29 and £200,000 a year after that. The report acknowledges the risk that this “is delayed or is unachievable” and says contingency money covers it. The joint venture made an operating loss of £158,000 in 2025/26.
A one-off business rates surplus helps. The council’s share is projected at £2.382 million, and in July it committed £1.56 million of that to extra cinema spending.
Other pressures this year
Overall, the council expects to end 2026/27 only £36,950 over budget. Inside that total:
- Rents are £167,850 short at Bakers Lane and the incubator offices at District Council House and Burntwood Leisure Centre.
- Dog kennelling costs £20,000 more, because more dogs are being kennelled.
- Golf course income is £15,400 short, after weather delayed a new irrigation system.
- Planning fees are £110,000 higher than budgeted.
- The vacancy savings target is mostly unmet. £166,540 of the £180,000 target was still to find after three months.
Council tax arrears in the first quarter stood at £7,008,630, up from £4,995,990 a year earlier. The report puts the rise down to the timing of court dates. In-year collection was slightly ahead, at 28.8% against 28.7%.
What it means for council tax
The plan assumes the district’s share of the bill rises 1.99% a year. That would take band D from £201.79 now to £205.81 in 2027/28. The district is one part of the total bill, as our council tax page shows.
The report sets out what other choices would mean over the four years, compared with 1.99%:
| Option | Income, 2027/28 to 2030/31 |
|---|---|
| Rise 2.99% every year | £924,000 more |
| Rise £5 every year | £393,000 more |
| Rise 1% every year | £894,000 less |
| Freeze every year | £1,783,000 less |
What it means for you
- You can still have your say. The budget consultation runs until 18 November.
- Nothing changes yet. Cabinet only approved the approach and timetable on 3 November (Cabinet decisions).
- The dates to watch: Overview and Scrutiny on 26 January 2027, Cabinet on 9 February and full council on 23 February, when the council tax is set.
Have your say