Budget proposals endorsed by cabinet
A raft of savings and spending proposals at Dudley Council have been endorsed by senior councillors ahead of a final decision next month.
The council’s cabinet stamped their approval on the budget for 2024/25 at a meeting last night.
The proposals still need to be determined by a meeting of the full council on March 4 before they can be implemented.
It includes a proposed 4.99 per cent increase in council tax, two per cent of which will go directly to helping adult social care. It equates to £1.17 increase per week for a typical Band B property, or roughly the price of a loaf of bread.
If the proposals are agreed residents in Dudley borough will still have some of the lowest council tax rates in the country.
The plans also include investing £40million into adult social care and children’s services following a forecasted joint 12million pressure on the budgets. There are also plans to start charging for green waste collections, similar to neighbouring authorities.
Cabinet members were told more than 1,400 people responded to the annual budget consultation.
The proposals are set against a backdrop of extreme pressures on council budgets with financial reserves set to run out in the next two years.
Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Council, said:
Our financial position has been well documented, and we have to continue to give our budgets our urgent attention. We have endorsed the spendings and savings at cabinet level which will generate money for the authority to address the shortfall in key areas.
We are putting money into services affecting the most vulnerable people and raising essential funds in a number of ways. That will help us get the council back on a firmer footing.
Councillor Pete Lowe, leader of the opposition, added:
All members of the council will want to see this authority in a better financial position than the one we find ourselves in at the moment. Our residents will expect that too.
The decisions that need to be taken are very challenging and I welcome the opportunity to debate these before all members of the council make our decisions next month.
Last year, a Local Government Association-led peer review highlighted a number of areas of concern around the council’s financial position which was backed up by an annual independent audit.
The council has responded with a series of measures including setting up an Improvement and Assurance Board (IAB) and implementing rigorous spending controls including a recruitment freeze.
The budget proposals will be determined at a meeting of the full council on March 4.