Barking and Dagenham Budget Consultation 2025-26
We've launched our 2025/26 budget survey, and we want you to tell us what matters the most to you. As local taxpayers you have an important voice in shaping the how we set our budget which determines the services we provide to you.
We’re working hard to make sure you live healthy, fulfilling lives where the daily challenges you face can be eased by a safe, supportive and inclusive community, with a council that’s on your side.
Severe financial challenges
Councils up and down the country are facing unprecedented financial pressures which is being driven by rising demand for services, and the rising cost of services such as social care, especially in children’s services.
In Barking and Dagenham, we’re facing a severe squeeze on our finances. As a council, today we receive just 40% of what we received a decade ago due to a legacy of huge cuts in funding from the previous government - for every £1 we had then we have just 66p today.
And just 17% of our funding comes from local Council Tax from residents. That means we are largely reliant on funding from central government. And it’s why we are trying to make every penny count.
At the same time, Barking and Dagenham has high levels of deprivation and demand for services is growing as residents face hardship and financial insecurity, following the cost of living crisis.
Our population has also grown. 33,000 more people call the borough home today compared to 10 years ago and one in four residents are not old enough yet to have sat their GCSEs. All this has increased demand for our services.
Alongside this, recent years of high inflation has resulted in soaring costs for essential services, especially in children’s and adult services which has added pressure on our budget. For every £10 we spend, around £7 is spent on adult and children’s care.
Inflation has not been matched by sufficient uplifts to our funding from the previous government, putting strain on budgets. Everything costs more meaning resources go less far.
We need fairer funding and we will be working with the new Government to push for our fair share of resources, while we get best value for money from every penny of public money that we spend.
This isn’t unique to our borough and councils all over the country are finding themselves in a much worse situation than us.
What the Autumn statement means for our borough
We welcome the Government's Autumn Statement, which was announced on 30 October 2024. We view the announcement as just the start of meeting the support local authorities need and welcome the announcement of multi-year settlements for future years.
Poverty and the rising cost of living continues to affect residents within Barking and Dagenham. We welcome the £600m Social Care Grant funding increase, the tripled investment into breakfast clubs, as well as Special Educational Needs and Disabilities provision, ensuring no child goes hungry and is able to reach their full potential.
We are also pleased about the extension of the Household Support Fund which enables us to continue to support our most vulnerable residents.
The announcement also included £233million investment in tackling homelessness and rough sleeping, we hope this will prevent pressures arising on temporary accommodation budgets within Barking and Dagenham, which is a strain on neighbouring authorities’ budgets.
The budget challenge
We already run an efficient, low-cost council. Since 2010, we have made £181m of savings, and we will find more.
We need to make £17.2m in-year savings in this financial year, and around £25.9m savings in the next financial year (2025/26).
This is a very challenging time. We will continue to do everything we can to protect the frontline service that people need, but some tough decisions will need to be made.
What we’ve been doing
We are acting to control our budget with strong financial management, making sure we are getting value for money from every pound we spend.
This includes taking a number of measures to immediately reduce our spending, such as a pause on non-essential recruitment.
To bridge the gap for next year, we are continuing to find better, low-cost ways of delivering services, increasing income, and getting the best value from our assets.
We are also getting best value from everything we commission, and using digital opportunities to transform our services, improving customer journeys, while securing savings.
As things get more challenging with reduced resources, we’re leaving no stone unturned to streamline how we do things, innovate and prioritise essential services such as social care to support local people.
We will need to make some tough decisions to balance our budget over the coming months and we will consider all options.
Council Tax
To help ease the pressures on our budget, we are considering raising Council Tax next year.
Our proposal to increase Council Tax by 4.99 per cent – consisting of a 2.99 per cent general increase with a further 2 per cent ringfenced for Social Care – will add around £1.47 per week onto the average band D property (excluding the GLA element) from next April.
We know this will be difficult for residents and it’s not a decision we want to take.
But without more Council Tax we will be unable to deliver the public services you depend on such as street cleansing, waste collection or libraries, and of course care and support for the most vulnerable in our society.
Have your say
Your feedback is really important. We need to hear about the services that matter most to you so we can prioritise accordingly. Where possible we want to protect the services that are important to residents and do our best to make savings which do not negatively impact service users.
Make sure you have your say before the consultation closes on Wednesday 15th January 2025.