Budget Consultation 2025/26

Update

Thanks to your feedback the Council has now agreed on a list of savings that means it can set a balanced budget for 2025/26.

More information can be found here on the decisions made.

Please find on the right hand side links to the Cabinet Report and an Overview of the Budget and Spending Plans which includes the consultation findings report.

We have identified a list of tough savings proposals that we need to consider ahead of setting our budget in February 2025.

Before then we are asking residents, community groups, businesses and other organisations to look at the savings proposals being considered and to give their feedback.

All comments are very welcome. The consultation means there is an opportunity for local people of all ages to see the savings proposals and to tell us what they think of them and suggest alternatives.

The Council’s faces a £10.8m net gap for 25/26 largely due to further financial pressures in social care and housing.

Eighty per cent of everything the Council spends goes on three areas – homelessness, adult social care and children’s social care – leaving just 20 per cent to pay for hundreds of services.

The Council has had to carry out financial actions that has meant significant reductions in staff from 10,000 to 5,000 over the past 15 years and made savings across every service, every year.

In this year’s pre-budget report the savings proposals are very challenging and have been listed out of necessity. We ran a survey in October, based on what services matter most to people including but we still have to look at how we can make savings on these services too.

The Council must achieve a balanced budget in April 2025, by law. If it can’t then there is every possibility that it would have to issue a Section 114 notice and would effectively be taken over by commissioners.

Savings proposals being considered include:

• A savings target across senior management posts.
• Savings across adults’ and children’s social care.
• Reductions in cleaning services.
• Reductions in parks services.
• Charging at the War Memorial Park car park.
• Removing the Community Support Grant for one year, offset by the extended Household Support Grant.
• Reducing Council Tax support discount from 80% to 75%.
• Reducing the number of portacabins set up at elections.
• Reducing contributions to the voluntary sector.

So please do get involved and have your say. We really value your opinions. Please read our Pre-Budget Report and our list of Proposals as well as the Equality Impact Assessments for each proposal, before you take the survey.

Find out more about our finances and how we spend our money www.coventry.gov.uk/budget

If you are completing on a laptop/computer the documents are on the right hand side of this page, if you are completing this on a mobile they are below the survey link.

Please note that the Equality Impact Assessments will be updated as new information becomes available

The deadline for responses is 28 January 2025.

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. The dates and times are on the right hand side of this page.

Please register your interest.