Budget Consultation 2024/25

*THIS CONSULTATION IS NOW CLOSED*

Every year, we spend around £100m providing public services to the most vulnerable members of our communities, and services that you, your family and friends use every day – like waste management and maintaining our roads and public spaces.

We are facing significant financial challenges and the council remains in a weak financial position.

We have already taken urgent action to limit all non-essential spend. Tough decisions continue to be needed to rein in spend and raise income, so that we are able to fund the increased costs of delivering essential services to our most vulnerable residents.

To balance our budget for 2024/25 we have developed a set of proposals to save money or generate income that we would like your views on.

Separate consultations are taking place on specific proposals, offering you the opportunity to comment in detail.

Our Financial Challenge

The council is facing serious financial challenges. This is caused by multiple factors, including:

• Demand for our services – particularly adult social care, children’s services and housing – continues to rise and at increased cost.
• Higher inflation and interest rates are driving up council costs for delivering planned projects and routine services.
• Council debt stands at £203m and interest rates have increased. The payments on our debt are currently forecast to cost us around £13m in 2024/25.
• We continue to have the lowest Council Tax in the country outside of London meaning that we are unable to raise funds to the same level as most other councils.
• Our income has fallen, particularly the expected revenue from car parking season ticket holders as people work from home following the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Funding sources from central government remain uncertain and there is little prospect of additional funding.

Our Services

Our services are provided by 4 main Directorates.

Adults, Health and Communities: Our services include caring for adults who need our help and support, helping people keep well and stay healthy, and working with communities to support community-led change.

Children's Services & Education: Our services include helping children and young people get the best start in life they can and to live in safety, supporting children and families who are experiencing challenges, and caring for children who are unable to live with their families. Schools receive a ring-fenced c£160m budget to provide the universal services for all 5-16 year olds that is not included in this figure.

Resources: Our services include a mixture of resident-facing services such as libraries and registrars, and “back office” services like finance, human resources, IT and legal services to support the proper functioning of the whole council. We are also responsible for arranging elections, administration of council tax and business rates and ensuring the benefits and other grant money is given to those who are eligible.

Place: Our services include helping people to avoid homelessness, keeping our communities safe, collecting rubbish and recycling, maintaining our roads and infrastructure, and looking after our environment. We manage our town centres and play a lead role in the council’s efforts to tackle climate change and its effects.

More information

Paper copies of the consultation document are available from all local libraries on request.

For any questions please contact budgetconsultation@rbwm.gov.uk

Please review all of the attached documents before completing the survey.

The line-level budget proposals document lists the proposals to balance our budget in 2024/25.

The Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) provides a more detailed explanation of the proposals. An EQIA is a tool to assess the impact that a proposal will have upon different sections of our community. It enables the council to ensure it is fulfilling its responsibilities under the Equality Act

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