A budget fit for the future

Continuing to keep our communities safe and well, and supporting businesses with their ongoing recovery from coronavirus restrictions are our priorities for the next financial year.

Due to cuts in government funding, and no funding to meet increasing demand for care services or inflation, we have made around £173 million in savings since 2010 – and by 2023 we have to save at least another £18 million. At the same time, demand on services is growing as people live longer and the borough’s population continues to grow.

To help us maintain essential local services, our budget proposals include a 1.98% rise in council tax. The Social Care Precept will be added to this and used to raise an additional 1% to help protect adult social care, totalling an increase of 2.98%.

We want to prioritise services for vulnerable people, such as social care for children and adults, while also doing our best to maintain other services such as waste and recycling collection, street cleaning and roads maintenance.

What do we do for you and our communities?

We provide lots of services that people see, like emptying your bins, cutting grass, clearing litter and maintaining roads. But we also provide a lot of services which many people don’t see that require far more money than providing many of our common day-to-day services.

For example, we:

• look after vulnerable children who need our help
• support elderly people to stay as happy and independent as possible
• care for people with mental health problems
• help families with housing problems to prevent them becoming homeless

Looking after children and people who need care in their own home takes up around two thirds of our budget.

Where the Warrington £ goes

The examples given are far from an exhaustive list of services and support the council offers day-in, day-out. These costs are indicative of how the council's budget is allocated to services, and are subject to change.

Council tax and our budget – the detail

One of the council’s most important responsibilities is to provide care and support to those adults and children who are vulnerable, to provide them with access to the best support and opportunities. Since 2015, an increasing share of the cost for social care has been transferred to our residents, and as demand continues to rise these vital services are taking an increasing share of our budget.

Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic, there was a dramatic increase in the number of people and families who needed extra help and support. This continues to be a major priority for us and we continue to substantially fund year-on-year increases to the council tax support scheme.

By law, we are required to set a balanced budget at the start of every financial year (April to March). We also forecast an estimated budget position for each of the following three years. This approach means we can better plan for the future. 

The budget was considered by Cabinet on Monday 14 February 2022 and Full Council on Monday 28 February 2022.

You can read the committee meeting papers on our Committee Management Information System (CMIS) via the links below:

• Cabinet - Monday 14 February
• Full Council - Monday 28 February

Our commercial approach

We’re one of the lowest-funded councils in the country – the sixth lowest in fact – which means that more than many other councils, we need to look at other, creative ways to offset the very worst of the cuts we’ve had to bear. You can read about our commercial approach in more detail.

Further information