Introduction
After 14 years of austerity, unfair cuts and increased costs, we still face a big budget gap between how much we predict we need to spend on services next year and how much funding we will have available.
If we had not had to make the savings we have since 2010 and had been funded for the pressures we have faced, we would have £443 million a year more to spend on essential services. Even if we had received only the same level of funding cuts as the average English council, we would be £75 million a year better off.
Measures in the Government’s recent Autumn Statement may have improved our position for 2025/26 somewhat – and offer grounds for future optimism – but we won’t know our exact funding until the end of the year.
While austerity is over, we are still dealing with the problems it created, so we still need to make significant savings.
Set out in this consultation are £41.5 million of savings options developed by Council officers, which we would welcome your views on. Councillors will then decide on these in the new year, once the Council’s exact financial position is known, taking your opinions into account. Savings required will be delivered over the next three years (2025/26 to 2027/28).
The Government’s funding decisions assume that councils like ours will increase council tax next year by 2.99% plus a further 2% earmarked for adult social care. We are proposing this 4.99% increase because otherwise we would have to find another £11.4million of savings.
Careful planning over many years, and cost controls, mean we’re confident we’ll be able to put forward a balanced budget for 2025/26. This will enable us to protect the frontline services people rely on – from social care to libraries, leisure centres and parks – while continuing to deliver on key priorities such as tackling poverty, helping residents through the cost-of-living crisis, and building affordable homes.
Your feedback on our savings options will help shape what happens next.
Consultation closes at 5pm on Sunday 12 January 2025.