The meeting of South Gloucestershire’s Full Council has agreed the budget for the coming year. It sets out how the authority will balance the books for the next two years, by delivering already agreed savings and using reserves in 2026/27.
The budget also includes a number of investments that will help it meet its priorities set out in the Council Plan. However, the budget forecast also set out how costs to the authority are continuing to rise faster than income can be generated, and that there is ongoing uncertainty about long-term council funding from Government which is yet to be resolved. It concludes that unless there is a significantly increased investment in delivering council services, further savings will need to be made.
Following a public consultation process last year, local people told the council that they broadly supported the approach and prioritisation it applied to looking at ways to spend less and protect services for those most in need of support.
A majority of residents agreed, for example, that the council should prioritise making the best use of its buildings and other assets, with a preference for renting out surplus buildings, space or land, rather than selling it, ensuring that where possible, it can be retained for potential future use.
Local people, broadly, recognised the ongoing pressure on the council to get the most efficient and effective agreements with external service providers and agencies where it is spending public money.
They also said, very clearly, that they wanted quality service and support for local people to be the key drivers and that costs should not be cut purely to meet short-term financial targets.
While residents also recognised that many of the challenges facing the council are outside of its control, and that there is a case for increasing council taxes and charges, in the context of the ongoing cost of living crisis, they did not support ongoing above-inflation increases to plug funding gaps caused by a legacy of underfunding for things like social care.
Communities across South Gloucestershire expressed strong views that solutions to solve escalating costs should be driven nationally, both in terms of policy and funding.
The final budget agreed by Full Council at their meeting on Wednesday 19 February, includes a 4.99 per cent increase in Council Tax. This means that the South Gloucestershire Council element of an average Band D property bill will be £1,931.33 in 2025/26. As has been the case for the past several years, two per cent of this increase will be allocated directly to meeting escalating costs of delivering social care, which continue to rise significantly more quickly than inflation.
It also assumes that the existing £40.3million in savings programmes will be delivered, on track, by the end of 2026/27, as well as an additional £1.1million in savings that were identified during the current year and shared with residents during the budget consultation process.
While the budget is projected to balance for the next two years, through the public consultation exercise, local people told the council about their preferences for how the authority should approach the future savings that will be necessary.
South Gloucestershire Council Leader, Councillor Maggie Tyrrell, said: “I firstly want to thank local people who have taken the time to let us know about their priorities for council services, spending and saving. Through the consultation process and our ongoing community conversations, we can see that people recognise we simply, sadly, cannot afford to keep doing everything we always have done in the same way, because our spending power has not kept up with rising costs.
“It is increasingly difficult to find the right balance in these very challenging financial times. We are pleased to have been able to present a budget that will balance the books over the next two years, by making some prudent, if sometimes difficult choices.
“However, further ahead, there are clear shortfalls in our projected funding. There is uncertainty about how councils will be funded by national Government, and we look forward to the outcome of the spending review that we expect to be revealed in the Spring, which we hope will give us more certainty with which to plan ahead.
“We are also pleased to have been able to prioritise funding to support some of our communities who most need our help. Sometimes a little can go a long way, and the support we want to be able to provide for young people who need help getting their lives back on track; for older people who want to live independently; and for our veterans’ community, are really important for us.”
Council co-leader, Councillor Ian Boulton, added: “Local residents recognise that we are all living through very difficult financial times, because they are still feeling the impact of the cost of living crisis. In making some of the difficult decisions we have had to confront, it is those who are struggling the most that we have wanted to support by protecting the vital council services they rely on.
“That’s why we have kept our council tax increase and other charges that have had to go up to the minimum we can do and still balance the books. It is not right or fair that the most vulnerable bear the brunt of these difficult times. It is the council’s role to help them and we take that duty seriously.
“I am pleased that we have had the opportunity through our community conversations to speak to and hear from so many local people, because as we continue to navigate the road ahead, understanding their needs and the council’s financial reality will be vital to making sure we can continue to serve our local communities.”
