Introduction

Dear Reader,

I am pleased to present the statement of accounts for the London Borough of Bexley for the financial year 2024/25.

My narrative report includes the financial statements with an overall explanation of the Council’s financial position during 2024/25 and commentary on the medium-term picture. It also includes information about the operation of the Council and the major influences affecting the accounts. In addition, it includes information on service and financial performance over the financial year ending 31 March 2025. All this information is given with the aim of providing stakeholders and interested parties assurance as to the Council’s financial standing and the care taken to account for public money.

Our Performance in 2024/25

Bexley is all about its residents – who make the borough so enterprising, diverse and full of character. Our residents are proud of their well-located and green borough, and the council is ambitious for them, working to grow the borough for the benefit of residents today and into the future.

Our current corporate strategy was adopted in 2022/23 – our Bexley Plan ‘Making Bexley Even Better’. This plan is how we share our vision for Bexley and our commitments to residents in delivering that vision. The Bexley Plan is linked to our Medium-Term Financial Strategy (which explains how we resource and fund the vision and commitments).

• Find out more about our Bexley Plan

To make sure we are on track to deliver our vision and commitments, we have agreed a set of performance indicators that we regularly manage, measure and communicate. The performance indicators show us what our target is and importantly they show us if we are on track to achieve our target.

We share and update our performance with residents regularly at Public Cabinet, as it’s important to be open about how we’re doing. We provide our elected members with numerical data and written explanations of performance to make the information clear and accessible. We publish an Annual Performance Report each year and I have included a summary of the 2024/25 report below, ordered by Bexley Plan Priority.

Priority theme 1: Aspiration for our residents

Outcome 1 - Children and young people have the best start in life
Outcome 2 - Good schools and achievement for all our pupils
Outcome 3 - Lifelong learning helps people reach their potential and access good jobs
Outcome 4 - Happy, healthy and resilient lives
Outcome 5 - Your life, your choice - working together towards the life you want

Our data shows:

Improved outcomes from our Family Wellbeing Service with almost 90% of families supported achieving or partially achieving outcomes.

We saw a 7.7% reduction in referrals to Children’s Social Care this year, but a 7.4% increase in the rate of Children in Need (now higher than comparators) and a 5.7% increase in Child Protection Plans. The rate of children looked after remained similar and significantly below the national average. We maintained a high proportion of care leavers in suitable accommodation (93.9%) and a slight increase in care leavers accessing employment, education, or training (now 68.9%).

In relation to SEND we have seen the number of referrals and EHCPs continue to rise (7.6%). However, latest published national figures (for 2023) show a national increase of 11.4% which potentially demonstrates the positive impact of our focus on early help. Timeliness of EHCPs has reduced (now 67%) but remains higher than national average (50.3% in 2023 which is the most recent available data). Audits taking place under our new quality assurance framework indicate that our EHCPs are improving in quality.

Our data shows that there have been fewer admissions to residential or nursing care this year. This reflects the wide range of work to support people living independently, prevent avoidable hospital admissions and so reduce the need for long-term residential or nursing home care. Much of this work is covered by our Better Care Fund plan. The rate of admission among working age adults decreased from 8.7 to 7.3 per 100,000 population from 2023/24 to 2024/25, while the admission rate for older people fell from 479.8 to 414.4 per 100,000 population.

We’ve sustained the outcomes for people accessing reablement services with 83.5% of clients completing reablement with a reduction in their care needs this year and a 1.5% increase in people making no further request for support after receiving reablement.

We’ve also seen an improvement in the timeliness of planned reviews with 63% now completed within 3 months.

There’s been a small increase in the proportion of care providers rated good or outstanding by CQC this year and this now stands at 70.8%.

Furthermore, the proportion of people receiving direct payments increased to 23.3%.

Unfortunately, we saw a slight decline (to 55%) in the proportion of adults aged 40-74 receiving their NHS health check.

Stepping away from the data, much has been achieved this year that furthers our Corporate Plan outcomes under priority theme 1. The following list provides a small selection of recent activity and achievements:

• Our Children’s Services were commended for our commitment to delivering high-quality support to children and families, following a focused visit by Ofsted inspectors in February.
• Bexley’s first Family Hub has opened in Erith, providing early support and community-led services in a welcoming and supportive space.
• A jobs club has been running at The Nest supporting parents into work with CVs, interview skills, childcare and benefits advice.
• Our 6th Fostering Together hub launched this year and specialises in children under 7.
• Bexley’s Youth Justice Service received an overall rating of ‘Good’ with some areas of work rated ‘outstanding’ following an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) in April 2024.
• The Learning & Education College, Bexley (LECB) was once again rated as a good provider, with outstanding features in all areas in its latest Ofsted inspection.
• 92.8% of our schools are rated good or outstanding by Ofsted.
• 92.4% of Bexley’s children were offered their first choice of primary school and 99% received one of their top 3 preferences, placing us amongst the top 5 in London.
• We have secured £2.56m funding in 2024/25 and £17.08m to date from the DfE’s Safety Valve Programme to implement interventions, which will have the dual benefit of improving outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and helping to bring the high needs budget to a more sustainable financial position.
• A new speech and language intervention ‘Secondary Language Link’ was introduced into secondary schools and a new Early Years Specialist Support service has been launched.
• We have rolled out a training package and toolkit to pilot schools to support them in addressing Emotionally Based School Avoidance and have run a monthly parent / carer support group.
• We have worked with our Mental Health Support Team (MHST) to roll out the third wave of MHST schools – over 50% of schools are now covered which is slightly above the national target.
• By the end of the spring term, 1205 children had taken part in either the FRIENDS Resiliency Programme or ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) Interventions, enhancing the early intervention offer to schools and pupils.
• Our School Superzones have continued to promote safer travel, healthy eating and increased activity.
• Our winter plan was successfully implemented in collaboration with partners and providers across the local health and social system, with a focus on vaccination uptake and improving patient flow via reablement and discharge to assess.
• Winter 2024/25 saw generosity woven into a powerful safety net for vulnerable older housebound residents across Bexley thanks to the ‘Bexley Boxes’ initiative. Local residents, businesses, schools and staff donated money, food, clothing and blankets. These individual donations were transformed into essential boxes filled with Winter warming items. Volunteers including residents, businesses, councillors and staff supported the project by delivering boxes directly to residents’ homes. Trusted local organisations helped make contact with those who would qualify. The project provided vital support to 770 local residents.
• We’ve progressed our Better Care Fund plan which has helped us manage seasonal increases in A&E attendances and non-elective hospital admissions and our GP and Urgent Treatment Centre capacity remained strong.
• The new Hyper-Acute stroke unit opened at Darent Valley Hospital, improving timely and expert stroke care for Bexley residents.
• Bexley Autism Strategy was approved and aims to improve support for people with autism at home, at school and at work.
• Over 130 people attended a Good Mental Health event held for adults with a learning disability.
• A consortium led by Greenwich & Bexley Hospice won the Pathways Alliance contract which enables trusted partners to complete care act assessments and reviews for people with readily understood care and support needs and their carers.
• We’ve supported elderly and vulnerable adults and children to remain independent in their own homes completing 211 major mandatory DFG adaptations, 155 discretionary adaptation grants, 1307 minor adaptations and provided 148 grants to help facilitate speedy hospital discharge.
• The Your Life, Your Choice online platform launched providing residents with access to local support services and social activities and offering greater flexibility and control for those managing their own care.
• 85% of participants on our Tier 2 Weight Management service lost more than 3% of their initial weight.
• We’ve expanded our smoking cessation service, recruiting more advisors, expanding outreach and increasing access to quit smoking aids.
• We’ve expanded the Bexley Mental Health Ambassadors Programme to include nail bars, hairdressers and tattoo parlours.
• Time to talk benches have been installed with signage and QR codes to enable people to call the Samaritans should they wish.
• Leisure centre throughput and membership continued to grow this year with just under 10,000 members by March 2025 and the centres have drafted a new Healthy Communities Plan.

Priority theme 2: Ambition for our Borough

Outcome 6 - Good growth supported by better transport
Outcome 7 - Cleaner and greener borough
Outcome 8 - Local jobs and businesses in a thriving local economy
Outcome 9 - People and communities feel safe and inclusive
Outcome 10 - Quality, affordable homes for every stage of life

Our data shows:

• Fewer people moved into new jobs this year but the proportion of people in sustained employment increased by 17.8% to an impressive 72.5% this year.
• Library visits rose this year to 849,116 – an increase of 4.6% and there has also been an 8.4% increase in people using our leisure centres – up to 2,115,572 visits.
• A 7.6% reduction in crime this year and a 10% reduction in hate crime offences but the rate of domestic abuse incidents remained similar.
• We are the only London borough experiencing a reduction in our Temporary and Emergency Accommodation numbers. We saw a 40.8% reduction this year. This is partly due to the success of our homelessness preventions, which have risen by 21.9% this year.
• Bexley’s residents are wasting less and sending less rubbish to incineration this year. The average residual household waste reduced by 11kg per household and this reduces pollution and helps protect the environment.
• Recycling rates have been maintained at 43.9% over the course of the year but were increasing by the final quarter (46%) which moves us into 3rd position in London, above the London and national averages. Over 12 tonnes of textiles have been collected through doorstep collections by TRAID this year.
• We have a zero-tolerance policy to littering and fly tipping and we issued 2,501 fixed penalty notices for littering, 645 for fly tipping and 66 prosecutions.

Stepping away from the data, much has been achieved this year that furthers our Corporate Plan outcomes under priority theme 2. The following list provides a small selection of recent activity and achievements:

• Our Schools Waste Action Club team visited over 40 schools enabling 12,500 children to learn about waste and recycling.
• #CelebratingBexley launched as a year-long celebration of arts and culture in the borough celebrating numerous local anniversaries including the centenary of Danson as a public park, 500 years since Lesnes Abbey was dissolved and the Council’s own 60th birthday.
• We have secured approval to continue to run Howbury and Homeleigh hostels for use as emergency accommodation with existing suppliers for a further 2 years.
• Bexley Community Safety Partnership published its Joint Strategic Assessment and agreed priorities of serious violence, domestic abuse, anti-social behaviour and community reassurance with a focus on shoplifting, theft, vehicle crime and concerns of young people.
• Solace Women’s Aid were awarded the contract for domestic abuse community provision in Bexley until 2030.
• A new CCTV system has been designed for the borough, based on crime data.
• The Clearing at Lesnes Abbey has extended its community offer and over 4000 pupils have engaged with the schools' programme and over 30,000 people have attended events or regular workshops. Local volunteers have given 2,776 hours this year to support the grounds and activities and helped retain our Green Flag Award status.
• The Splash Park within Danson Park has been renovated and reponed with accessible equipment.
• Bexley’s Local Plan continues to secure good growth in the borough, with permissions granted for residential development exceeding our annual housing delivery requirement. We have published a housing supply capacity that meets the boroughs current housing requirements.
• We continue to remove permitted development rights for commercial buildings, including shops, to be converted to residential use to protect our town centres and designated industrial areas.
• Riverside Gardens open space improvements and the new community facility ‘68’ on Pier Road, Erith will shortly be completed.
• Bexley Business & Employment service (BBE) continued to support residents who are furthest from the job market. 478 people were supported into paid employment and 83% sustained their employment. Our Bexley Works Programme is exceeding performance targets achieving more than double the target of job starts.
• BBE has provided advice, guidance, training and mentoring to over 296 businesses, given cash grants to 26 businesses to upskill staff and assisted 62 local people towards starting their own business. 60 new jobs have been created so far.
• Town centres have hosted events to encourage visits and increase footfall and dwell time – for example, Sidcup’s Fringe Festival and a new festive market in Bexleyheath.

Priority theme 3: An Efficient and Effective Council

Outcome 11 - Lobbying for Bexley and on the side of our residents
Outcome 12 - Taxpayers’ money is spent wisely and well
Outcome 13 - Customers at the heart of what we do
Outcome 14 - Rigorous procurement and contract management to get the best services
Outcome 15 - Attract, retain and develop an efficient, diverse and inclusive workforce

Our data shows:

Despite ongoing cost of living pressures, the percentage of households in Temporary & Emergency Accommodation which are in rent arrears has reduced by 6.3% this year. Council Tax and Business Rate collection rates slightly reduced and while there's been an increase in the number of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued (for parking and moving traffic contraventions), there's also been a slight decrease in the percentage that are paid.

The ‘abandon rate’ for contact centre calls was slightly higher this year compared to last, but still well within our 10% target.

Meanwhile, the percentage of stage 1 complaints handled within timescale slightly improved this year, as did the percentage of stage 2 complaints but the percentage of statutory complaints closed in timescale worsened. A smaller proportion of stage 2 complaints were referred to the ombudsman this year. Of the 59 cases referred to the ombudsman this year, 48 (81.36%) resulted in no further investigation / no fault found.

Stepping away from the data, much has been achieved this year that furthers our Corporate Plan outcomes under priority theme 3. The following list provides a small selection of recent activity and achievements:

• After setting a balanced budget for the coming year, we will be investing more than £500m in day-to- day services in 2025/26, as well as £262m over four years through our capital programme – including £86m in 2025/26.
• We participated in an LGA Peer Challenge review of Finance in 2025, designed to complement our own performance and improvement focus.
• We have developed and implemented a Transformation Programme this year designed to fundamentally change the way the council operates and deliver best value. The programme involves reshaping the council’s strategy, processes, culture, technology and structure to achieve significant improvements in performance, resilience and outcomes for residents and businesses. This programme will help us address the challenging financial context we face.
• We have instigated a Corporate Debt Board this year to improve our debt recovery and monitoring, improve cash flow and reduce the level of write-offs and bad debt provision.
• A Corporate Spend Panel has been meeting twice a week this year to review and approve all expenditure.
• We agreed two new ground leases with New River Retail Ltd for Broadway Shopping Centre and Broadway Square, Bexleyheath, securing a premium that will fund our Transformation Programme next year.
• Our Customer Experience Strategy launched this year with its aim to put customers at the heart of what we do. A new call satisfaction survey has been launched and is giving useful insight into the quality of our call handling and customers’ confidence in our response. So far, 85.4% of respondents felt they were treated respectfully, 78.1% felt confident their issue was dealt with and 85.5% felt listened to. We expect all these figures to improve as more aspects of the strategy are implemented.
• We have also completed the first phase in implementing a new case management system in our contact centre which will bring all contact centre systems into one place, streamline processes for staff, and improve the experience for customers who call us.
• We have completed a number of digital projects including developing a data warehouse that enables us to automate reporting and provide more timely management information to our service managers, automating the process for dropped kerb applications, improving ‘fix my street’, implementing
  ‘WasteWorks’ a new platform for reporting missed bins and trialling use of artificial intelligence solutions across the organisation.
• Our new People Strategy has been agreed and sets out our approach to attracting and retaining a high-quality workforce who represent the changing nature of the Borough.
• Over 100 applications were received for work experience, mostly from students at schools in the borough.
• In addition, we have continued to press the borough’s case with Government, TfL and the Mayor of London, opposing the new charges at the Silvertown and Blackwall tunnels that impact Bexley residents who need to cross the river for work and arguing for the Superloop to stop in Bexley Village.

2024/25: A Financial Overview

The Budget and Council Tax for 2024/25 was set by Full Council in March 2024 in the context of the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy covering the period 2024/25 to 2027/28. The budget set out the detailed financial plans for the Council in its Revenue and Capital budgets for the financial year.

The Council has faced continued financial pressures during the year. Inflation stood at 3.20% in March 2024, reducing to 2.60% by March 2025. Whilst inflation came down the impacts of the high inflation rates seen before March 2024 continued to impact the Council in a range of ways, including:

• affecting the spending power of residents particularly for those on lower incomes, their ability to pay for services, spending on discretionary services such as leisure and wider fees and charges and Council Tax, reducing our collection rates
• delays in development within the Borough including impact on the Council’s capital programme; and
• the government continue to cap annual increases in Business Rates as the small business rates multiplier remained frozen in 2024/25 and there is a risk that the next reset process could create a reduction in funding
• impacts on annual cost of existing contracts particularly those that have embedded inflation clauses. Where contracts are coming up for retendering or renewal there is a very high risk that the inflation required will be greater than the current assumptions over the medium term
• the construction industry is seeing materials shortages and increased costs in some areas linked to significant price increases which may have an impact on the cost of new construction projects within the capital programme
• there have been additional pressures in children’s and adult social care and Parking

In addition to the global economy, uncertainty surrounding the impact of the reforms to business rates and long-term sustainable funding for adult and Children's social care continue to have an effect on our medium-term financial planning. We are lobbying the Government on these matters and make frequent representations to Ministers as we seek to influence future decision-making.

The Council also faces financial pressures from contract inflation and the challenges posed by the changing needs of our residents and growth in some demand-led key frontline services. The Council set its budget in order to respond to these financial challenges while delivering the quality services our residents need and rely upon. The aforementioned global economic situation is only adding to these financial pressures.

The focus of the Council in order to deliver a balanced budget has continued to be on efficiency and transformation opportunities in order to ensure we deliver the services local people need and ensure the safety of our vulnerable residents.

Group Accounts

The Council is required to produce group accounts if the council has a controlling interest over any other company or entity. This is the sixth year the council has produced group accounts to include BexleyCo Ltd.

BexleyCo was established to support the Council in delivering its Growth Strategy, by providing new homes for local people. The company acts commercially, delivering good quality homes and generating returns to the Council as its shareholder. This is achieved by optimising the development opportunities for the Council’s surplus land assets, securing planning permission and building new homes, primarily on a build to sell model.

BexleyCo’s objectives are:

• to develop new homes in exemplar schemes that will drive up the standards of all new homes throughout the Borough
• to provide a wide range of new homes for affordable rent, shared ownership and market sale
• to facilitate new communities that are socially successful and sustainable over the long term, primarily through design, construction, sales, marketing and estate management strategies
• to maximise the number of our new homes that are sold or let to local people, putting Bexley residents first
• to support the local supply chain, and thereby increase the amount and quality of new jobs that are available to residents of the Borough, and;
• to meet the Council's requirements in relation to its financial returns; and to work in an open, transparent and ethical manner, reflecting and supporting the Council's values.

As per the business plan the Company is focusing on the residential development of ten sites on a build-for-sale basis which is expected to deliver 492 properties, including affordable homes for social rent and shared ownership.

Revenue outturn

The Statement of Accounts sets out the Council’s spending and financing in line with accounting and statutory requirements.

The table below provides a summary of the outturn position by Directorate. This leaves a net outturn position for service budgets of a £6.707m overspend. Once corporate budgets and funding have been taken into account, there is a resulting overspend of £1.523m. The overspend has been funded from the Financial Planning reserve.

The financial pressures of 2024/25 were mainly due to inflation, the cost of living crisis, escalating demand and the complexity of needs impacting social care services.

The main overspends within Adult Social Care related to third party placement spend on care packages, pressures in demand, demography and care complexity.

Children's services reported overspends mainly linked to accommodation and support for looked after children, services for children with disabilities and increasing demand for transport for children with special educational needs.

The 2024/25 year continued to see changing patterns of expenditure and income within Adult Social Care. As with 2023/24, there was additional expenditure on community-based and older people care home services with both numbers and unit costs increasing. There were also increases in the unit costs for Residential and Nursing and direct payments.

The Housing Service was successfully able to mitigate the demand pressures on temporary accommodation in 2024/25 through rigorous management of the service and utilising the Private Rented Sector and other suitable alternatives. However, properties for Private Rented Sector discharge are becoming increasingly difficult, time consuming and expensive to secure as the cost of dealing with the challenge has increased. This will be particularly difficult to maintain going forward due to the changing market conditions, the Home Office programme for decanting from London hotels and the Department of Defence accommodating Afghan refugees.

Parking service income continued to be impacted due to changing patterns of behaviour.

Planning and Regulation Services and Building Control income continue to decline as a result of the fall in applications.

Capital outturn

During the year, the Council’s capital outlay was £39.244m against a revised budget of £41.818m, with slippage of £2.574m. A robust review will also take place to ensure that all schemes are required in future years.

The variances from budget relate mainly to the profiling of expenditure as opposed to the cancelling of projects, the most significant of which are in Highways primarily on maintenance and bridge joints schemes and the timeline of drawdowns on the development funding for BexleyCo.

Bexley’s balance sheet

The Council maintained a strong balance sheet, with £875.915m of Long Term Assets as at 31 March 2025, Current Assets of £107.099m, Current Liabilities of £72.896m, and Long Term Liabilities of £270.728m. Furthermore, the Council has usable reserves of £83.901m. 

The Council's previous Section 151 officer during 2024/25 took into account reserve levels and advised that a prudent level of General Fund reserves was circa £14m. This level is required to ensure there are sufficient resources for both working capital and to cover emergency expenditure.

Borrowing and capital financing

The Council currently has £230.615m of borrowing outstanding as at 31 March 2025.

The Council took out £10m of new long term borrowing during 2024/25.

The Capital Programme for 2024/25 to 2027/28 was agreed by the Council in March 2024. This outlined the capital expenditure planned for 2024/25 and the borrowing requirement of £65.484m, however, only £16.019m was required due to slippage in the capital programme.

Collection Rates for Council Tax and Business Rates

The net collection of Council Tax for the year to 31 March 2025 was 95.05% of the £185.055m collectable, leaving £9.155m to be recovered.

The net collection for Business Rates at the end of March 2025/period 12 was 97.07% of the £97.049m collectable, leaving £2.842m of debt to be recovered.

Council Tax funds services both the London Borough of Bexley and the Greater London Authority (GLA), the split of the Council Tax income and Debt is 79:21. Income from Business Rates are shared between the London Borough of Bexley, GLA and the Department of Levelling Up, Homes and Communities in a ratio of 30:37:33.

Non-Current Asset Revaluation

The Council appointed Wilkes Head & Eve to carry out a rolling valuation programme of a proportion of the Council’s assets in 2024/25. The impact of these valuations is reported within the notes to the accounts.

Significant Changes in Accounting Policies

The accounts for 2024/25 are presented in accordance with the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom (the Code) which specifies the principles and practices of accounting required to give a ‘true and fair’ view of the financial position and transactions of the local authority.

The Code sets out the proper accounting practices required by Section 21(2) of the Local Government Act 2003. These proper practices apply to the Statement of Accounts prepared in accordance with the statutory framework established for England by the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015.

The 2024/25 Code incorporates required accounting standard amendments. The impact of IFRS 16 Leases is reflected in the accounts.

Bexley’s Medium-Term Financial Plan

The medium term financial planning process is an essential part of the Council’s strategic planning framework. The Medium Term Financial Strategy integrates strategic and financial planning over a four- year period. It translates the Corporate Plan priorities into a financial framework which enables the Cabinet and officers to ensure policy initiatives can be delivered within available resources and can be aligned to priority outcomes.

In February 2025, the Budget Gap was £43.893m, with the biggest pressure on 2028/29 as shown below.

Economic Climate

The Council continues to face increasing pressures relating to domestic economic factors, such as supply chains and ongoing inflationary pressures with energy and water. In March 2024, inflation was 3.20%. This reduced to 2.60% by March 2025, but has spiked as of April 2025, which was a rate of 3.50%. Inflation is expected to rise to 3.70% before entering a downward trajectory at the latter end of the year. Similarly, interest rates are forecasted to reach 3.75% with two further rate cuts expected in this financial year following a rate cut of 0.25% in May 2025 taking the bank rate to 4.25%.

There are also further pressures on the Council, primarily its ability to recruit and retain staff, increasing levels of demand and cost, specifically for Adult and Children Social Care and SEN Transport. But also pressures on other demand led services such as housing, parking and waste services. The cumulative impact on the cost of living for residents and businesses also impacts on discretionary spend, debt collection rates, safeguarding and homelessness.

Whilst the Council’s un-ringfenced General Fund reserve would have some capacity to absorb some of the financial impact, a robust financial plan is required to ensure the sustainability of the council’s finances is maintained.

Officers will be reviewing the Medium Term Financial Strategy, taking into account the 2024/25 final outturn and the financial impact of the UK and global economic situation. The Council has always used cashflow forecasting to assist with treasury management decisions, however it has gained greater significance as unplanned expenditure has been required to deal with the emerging situation. Cashflow is being closely monitored to ensure sufficient funds are available for daily requirements.

Ross Brown
Director of Finance and Corporate Services, London Borough of Bexley

Date: 30 June 2025