Pembrokeshire County Council, which has had many fears of budgets firmly in the red in recent years, is on course to end the financial year £1m in credit.

A report to be heard at the council’s corporate overview and scrutiny committee, meeting on November 20, will outline the financial position for the second quarter of the current financial year, with a projected outturn of £325.6m for the agreed £326.6m budget, representing a £1m saving.

However, that figure is lower than the first financial quarter of 2025-’26 picture, which predicted an underspend of an even more impressive £2.2m.

Pembrokeshire County Council actually ended the last financial year underspending by £2m, in part due to an extra £1.2m raised through second homes tax, councillors have previously heard.

In recent years the situation has been far bleaker, with third quarter projections for the 2023-24 budget of an overspend of £6.6m, £3m up from quarter two’s £3.6m, which in itself was a reduction of the previous quarter one figure of a £4.8m predicted overspend.

The end of the 2024 financial year reduced that to a £3m overspend, and by November 2024 – the 2024-25 year – the council was predicted to overspend by £3.9m, later, this February that prediction reduced to £1.4m, before the final underspend.

The November 2025 committee report, and any responses, will later by considered by Cabinet on December 1.

A report for members says: “The increase in rolling budget expenditure and income is due to the receipt of grants confirmed during Q2, where possible this has been used to fund core expenditure,” adding a reduced net contribution from reserve relates to additional appropriations made into reserves as a consequence of waste management Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) payment requirements.

It says a “continued increase in level of demand, complexity and cost of packages within our School ALN provision, Children’s Services and Adult Services experienced during 2023-24 and 2024-25 has been recognised in base budget increases in these service areas for 2025/26,” adding: “It is hoped that the work being undertaken to try to manage the increase in demand and reduce the cost of packages will help to flatten these demand levels into 2026-27 and over the medium term financial plan.”

It says pressures include a shortfall of £1m on budgeted assumptions in funding towards the increased cost of Employers’ National Insurance Contributions, and a 2025-26 teachers pay award resulting in an additional £0.4m pressure on school budgets in 2025-26 and a further £0.7m full year base pressure for 2026-27; but there is a projected underspend of £3.281m in Capital Financing Cost.

Director of Resources Jon Haswell in the report says: “It is pleasing to note that we are still projecting a year end underspend at the end of Quarter 2, albeit less than that projected at Quarter 1, primarily due to an underspend in capital financing costs more than offsetting all other additional budget pressures.”

Members are recommended to back the budget monitoring report.