Budget consultation

Dudley Council is planning to increase the council tax rate by 4.99 per cent and both main political party leaders are in agreement this increase has to be put in place given Dudley’s low levels of council tax.

It comes as the authority takes a tougher grip on its finances and intense scrutiny from a recent Local Government Association peer review and the annual audit.

A range of precautionary measures were introduced, including a spending review, to safeguard budgets amid growing pressures and to help avoid the council going bankrupt.

A new independent Improvement and Assurance Board (IAB) is now well established and working to address the financial pressures including forecasts which show the £21million in the council’s reserves is set to run out next year.

However, the council still needs to spend to provide services for local people.

There are a number of financial pledges as part of 2024/5 budget particularly for adult social care and children’s services, which are set to receive £40million, after warning of combined £12million overspend next year.

But the council also needs to raise funds to be able to set a sustainable budget whilst protecting essential services.

If approved by council next month (Feb), the basic rate of council tax will rise by 2.99 per cent and there will also be a 2 per cent increase which will go directly to adult social care. The total 4.99 per cent increase equates to £1.17 increase per week for a typical Band B property.

Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Council, said:

The council has always had low council tax, amongst the lowest bills in the country, but that has only added to the financial situation we find ourselves in.

There will undoubtedly be some difficult decisions to make to ensure we can continue to set a sustainable budget and protect essential services. But we have to maintain a firmer grip on our finances to avoid these decisions being taken out of our hands if the situation gets worse.

We really need people to tell us what is important to them so we can set an informed budget that is sustainable. People will remain central to our decision-making.

Councillor Pete Lowe, leader of the opposition, added:

These are extremely challenging times for all local authorities and raising council tax is unavoidable. We have to remove politics from setting a sustainable budget and concentrate on what is important – running services for local people.

The budget consultation runs until February 16 and is available online.

The live link is here