Budget Consultation 2023/24

Latest Update

The Council approved the proposed budget for April 2023-March 2024 on February 21st 2023. Read the report presented to Council here under agenda item 7. The consultation report can be found here

We want to give everyone the opportunity to tell us what you think about our spending proposals for 2023/2024.

We create a budget every year and it is our intention to continue to protect frontline services – this is a political priority.

It’s difficult to make the money available to us work across so many services, and we are still awaiting the 2023/24 Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, which will confirm how much we will receive.

We also know that in the same way residents are affected by the cost of living crisis the Council is too.

We are faced with large inflationary pressures from pay awards, energy price rises, the National Living Wage (especially in social care contracts) and price rises across all the goods and services we buy. While we have also been affected by higher costs within Children’s Services affecting the looked after children placements and workforce costs driven by shortages.

For residents affected by inflation and other cost of living issue we have put together webpages that tell you about support available.

We have now put together spending plans and will consult on these until Wednesday 8 February 2023. Find out more by reading the Cabinet Report and see the proposals and financial position.

The consultation will also seek views on the potential level of Council Tax and Adult Social Care Precept increases for 2023/24 - a rise in Council Tax of just under 3% and an Adult Social Care precept increase of 2%.

The final Budget proposals and the Council Tax increase will be subject to Council approval in February 2023.

The overall Council Tax and Adult Social Care Precept increase being recommended would mean a rise of just under 5% increasing the Band D Council Tax from £1,820 to c£1,910 (before the precept). Coventry households typically live in a Band A or Band B property where the annual increase would be around £80 over the year or £1.54 per week. The increase for those in receipt of Council Tax Support would be significantly less.

We recently carried out engagement on a new draft One Coventry Plan (2022-2030). The priorities for the coming years include increasing the city’s economic prosperity; improving outcomes and tackling inequalities in our communities; and tackling the causes and consequences of climate change.

The pre-budget proposals link to the One Coventry Plan, and will aim to help deliver these priorities with partner agencies. Maintaining frontline services is vital, and the Council needs to ensure it continues to manage its finance effectively.

How We Fund Local Services

This year (2022/23) we will spend around £749 million on local services. We will receive over £153 million in Council Tax to help fund this. We will fund the balance of £596m through business rates, grants, fees, charges and other income.

The government has reduced the amount of core government grant we receive every year to zero and we have to pay some of Business Rates income that we collect locally to Government. In total, the amount of money available to the Council has not kept up with the costs of inflation and rising demand for services such as social care. This means we will face significant and ongoing challenges providing the same level of services, and either need to make further savings or generate additional income to fund the services we deliver.

Looking forward we are forecasting that our income will equal our spend in 2023/24. However, in 2024/25 we currently have a projected deficit of £30 million (this could change depending on the outcome of the Government announcements). We expect that our funding streams are unlikely to keep up with the cost of the services that we provide and that we will need to find more savings and generate more income in the future. We will ask you to give your views on savings and income ideas in the survey. Your responses will help in setting budgets for 2023/24 and beyond.

The following diagram shows how much the City Council spends on key services every day

Workshops

We’d love to talk to you about the Council budget and answer any questions you have. We are holding workshops where you can learn more about our budget proposals and tell us what your think.

If you are a local resident/ member of an organisation please register your interest here

If you work for Coventry City Council please can you register here as we are holding specific workforce workshop sessions.

We hope to see you there.

If you are not able to attend any of the dates have a look at this video from a session held with Council workforce on Monday 16th January.