Middlesbrough Mayor Chris Cooke says the council is taking steps towards financial sustainability as budget proposals for 2025/26 are published. Approximately £7mn of savings are required next year, rising to £8.7mn in 2026/27. Many of the savings proposals build on the work done to transform the way social care is delivered, continuing the council’s focus on its highest spending areas.
Social care
Changes to improve foster care and support more families to stay together, avoiding the cost of care placements, are proposed. New methods to help adults live more independent lives would also be introduced.
Providing adult and children’s social care is due to account for 79% of the Council’s net revenue budget in the current financial year. This represents a reduction of 4% from 2023/24, showing an early indication of the progress being made.
A 4.99% increase in Council Tax is proposed, with 2% of the increase set aside for adult social care. The budget would see the first investment in activities including street cleaning and grass cutting for over ten years.
Recover, reset and deliver
Following his election in 2023, Mayor Cooke set out how the council would ‘recover, reset and deliver’ for the people of Middlesbrough.
In September this year, the government announced it was removing the Best Value Notice issued in January 2023, recognising progress that had been made.
The 2025/26 budget includes proposals for investment in frontline services such as environment as the council moves towards the ‘reset’ phase.
This is a significant achievement given the critical financial position that the council was in at this stage last year. A balanced budget for 2024/25 was only possible after an application to Government for Exceptional Financial Support.
The support allows the council to borrow money to pay for services in a way not usually permitted.
Mayor Cooke said: “Last year’s budget was all about recovery. We made difficult decisions to get a grip on our finances and we’re now able to take cautious steps towards the reset phase of the council.
“Services that were protected this year will start to get the investment they deserve next year. These proposals would see more money for street cleaning, grass cutting and pest control. We’d also invest more in youth serves for our young people and events that can help support businesses and jobs in the town.
“Because of the problems of the past we’ve had to spend a lot of time concentrating on internal matters. We’ve made positive progress on finances, governance and culture and now is the time for us to be more outward looking.”
Cllr Nicky Walker, Executive member for Finance, said it was vitally important that the council rebuilt and protected its levels of reserves which had depleted over recent years. Middlesbrough currently has the fifth lowest level of reserves relative to the size of its budget of all single-tier councils in the country.
Cllr Walker said: “With the financial position Mayor Cooke’s Executive inherited we had to get a grip of the council’s finances. We’ve made progress that’s been recognised by government, the Independent Improvement Advisory Board and our auditors in ensuring the council starts to live within its means and doesn’t dip into reserves to plug gaps.
“However, we are not yet fully out of the woods and we must continue to transform the way the council provides its most expensive services and deliver the previously agreed and newly proposed savings.
“Only by doing that can we put the town on a more secure financial footing and look to invest more in services our residents value. We’re taking decisions for the long term good of Middlesbrough.”
Public consultation
Four specific proposals judged to potentially affect frontline service delivery levels will be subject to public consultation.
At present the council pays for some home to school transport that legally could be charged to special schools and health services. A change would see the council stop paying these costs. The costs would be covered by a school or health service provider instead.
Fees and charges for bereavement services, highways management and fleet services such as taxi tests would increase. The cost of car parking could also increase by an average of 3.5%.
The council’s executive will be asked to approve the public consultation on the proposals during a meeting on 4 December. Final decisions on the budget will be made in a vote of all councillors in February.
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