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Barking and Dagenham Budget Consultation 2023/24

We’re living through the biggest cost-of-living crisis in more than 40 years. Hot on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK has been hit with an economic disaster that has left everything more expensive including food, fuel, energy, and even clothes – pushing budgets to breaking point.

Although our borough has always had its fair share of challenges, these are being amplified in the current climate, where one in four residents have less than £100 savings and almost half of all children are living in poverty.

As a council, we cannot stand by and do nothing. 

Supporting residents through tough times

That’s why we’ve rolled out a network of community hubs across the borough offering expert help and advice on people’s doorsteps. It’s also why we’ve worked with community partners to create a Cost of Living Alliance to support residents before they hit crisis point, and it’s why we’ve created an online cost-of-living portal that anyone can access to get help with everything from financial aid and food through to energy and mental health support. 

It's why, along with our partners, we’ve created 14 warm hubs throughout Barking and Dagenham – with more to follow – offering a place where people can go to enjoy a hot drink and socialise, without worrying whether they need to heat their homes during the cold winter months. It’s also why we asked you for your opinion on making changes to the help available to the 15,800-plus households registered on our Council Tax support scheme.


The tough financial situation

Put simply, in a scene that will be all too familiar to many households in the borough, our costs are increasing, but our income isn’t. Our already overstretched budget is being pushed to the edge.

The demand for our services continues to grow, which means that despite spending more yet again on our overall budget to deliver our services this year, we’re still looking at a significant overspend.

More than a decade of Government austerity cuts, the financial strain of the pandemic, and now the added impact of soaring inflation has left us, and councils across the country, struggling to balance the books.

The council’s funding has been slashed from £103m in 2010 to £80m in 2022 - taking into account inflation of over 40% during this time, funding given to the council is the equivalent of just £57m compared to £103m in 2010.

Even though we’ve made nearly £50m in savings and efficiencies since 2017, the truth is we can’t save our way out of this.

Our estimates suggest over the next four years we could be looking at a shortfall of more than £32m – even with increases in government funding and council tax.

Ongoing pressures such as social care continue to squeeze our budget. For every £1 we spend, 70p goes on caring for the most vulnerable people in our community before we can even think of doing anything else.

The numbers are close to not adding up and the government absolutely needs to do more to help. 

That’s why we will continue to press them for more money, but this issue is widespread. It isn’t unique to our borough and there are stark warnings from councils all over the country who find themselves in a much worse situation than us.


Growing our borough for everyone

Despite the challenges, our focus continues to be on unlocking the borough's potential to create benefits for residents.

The attraction of London's newest film studios is not only exciting but will bring a multi-million-pound boost each year to the local economy and create more than 1,800 jobs for local people.

The transformation of the capital’s largest brownfield site at Barking Riverside has created a thriving community featuring an award-winning ecology centre, as well as London’s latest Thames Clipper service and the new Overground station. The new transport facilities will unlock the further development of the site and allow thousands more homes to be built over the coming years.

And it is this exciting and ambitious attitude to building homes that has seen our borough become the home of housebuilding in recent years, with one in five of all affordable homes built in London built here in Barking and Dagenham.


Council Tax

However, that cannot paper over the financial pressures and without further backing from the government, we are left with no choice but to raise Council Tax to help ease the pressures on our budget.

We know this might sound like a broken record to residents, but the fact remains everything costs more than it did a year ago, demand on our services has increased, but the money available to us hasn’t.

Our proposal to increase Council Tax by 5 per cent – consisting of a 3 per cent general increase with a further 2 per cent ringfenced for Social Care – will add around £1.33 per week onto the average band D property (excluding the GLA element) from next April. 

We understand this will not be welcome news and it isn’t a decision we will take lightly, however, since the government is refusing to help, we have to take these really tough decisions.


Have your say

We’re asking you to give us your views on our 2023/24 budget proposals. Have your say on our budget proposals by completing this short survey. 

We’ve also included a short quiz with some key questions for you to consider on our budget.

Key Dates

Budget Special Facebook Live Q&A
Budget Special Facebook Live Q&A

6pm - 7pm on the Leaders' Facebook page with Councillor Twomey and Councillor Rodwell, Leader of the Council.

Submit a budget question ahead of the session by emailing socialmedia@lbbd.gov.uk

January 26, 2023

Come and see us at Barking Learning Centre
Come and see us at Barking Learning Centre

Come and see us between 5.30pm - 6.30pm at Barking Learning Centre, 2 Town Square, Barking, IG11 7NB to provide your feedback in person.

January 30, 2023

Come and see us at Dagenham Library
Come and see us at Dagenham Library

Come and see us between 5.30pm - 6.30pm at Dagenham Library, 1 Church Elm Lane, Dagenham, RM10 9QS to provide your feedback in person.

January 31, 2023