Norfolk County Council's finance monitoring report for the first quarter of 2026-27 shows the authority is on course for a balanced overall budget — but the picture is not uniform across all services.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service is forecasting a net overspend, the details of which are set out in the council's internal financial report. Officers say the overspend has been partly offset by a budget uplift, and the service is now working to reduce the gap through tighter financial controls.

Children's Services is also reporting around £3.3 million in financial pressures for the year, though the council says these are being offset by management actions and mitigations, keeping the service within its overall budget.

On the positive side, the Finance general budget is expected to underspend, thanks to a favourable treasury management forecast.

The council has also confirmed it will write off £250,240.83 in bad debts — money owed to the council that is considered unrecoverable.

Cabinet members raised concerns about overspending in procurement more broadly. The Cabinet Member for Efficiency, Performance and Pensions Oversight told the meeting that a Gateway Framework is being rolled out across the contract procurement process. The framework is designed to assess how robust contracts are, ensure clear oversight of who is managing them, and confirm that capacity and funding are in place to deliver them.

The council also approved a net addition of £4.191 million to its capital programme, largely driven by £4.138 million in Section 106 developer contributions allocated to Children's Services capital budgets, and £300,000 in external funding for the King's Lynn South Fire Station project.

General Balances — the council's financial reserves — are forecast to stand at £30.697 million by the end of March 2027.