Our budget and how we spend Council Tax

Our budget for 2024-25 represents the estimated cost of delivering our services. 

The amount we can spend each year is limited by:

• the amount of grant we receive from government
• income from other sources, such as council tax, fees and charges, and any business rate growth that we can retain

Since 2010-11, like other councils, we've experienced significant reductions in government funding. Despite the challenges, we are committed to protecting services for the most vulnerable people, cutting waste and reducing the impact of cuts as much as possible.

The 2024-25 budget has been prepared in the context of:

• high inflation
• the cost of living crisis
• uncertainty around government funding
• increasing demand for front-line services, particularly adult social care, children’s services, homelessness services and welfare support
• local government pay increases 

In order to continue protecting services for our most vulnerable residents, we are raising council tax by a local increase of 2.99% plus 2% for the adult social care tax rate increase, a total of 4.99%.

2023 budget summary

At 31 March 2023, our uncommitted reserves were £39.6 million, investments £220 million and borrowing £991 million. We employed approximately 4,639 full time staff as at 31 March 2023.