Proposed County Council budget to go before scrutiny committee

Proposed County Council budget to go before scrutiny committee

Proposals to deliver a balanced budget for the year ahead will be examined by West Sussex County Council’s Performance and Finance Scrutiny Committee next week.

The committee meeting will be held on Wednesday 22 January at 10.30am. Members of the public are invited to attend the meeting at County Hall, Chichester, or follow the discussion online via a webcast.

The proposals from the council’s Cabinet set out how the council intends to deliver a balanced budget for 2025/26 and provide support for the most vulnerable in line with its Council Plan priorities.

The council’s four priorities, which are underpinned by a cross cutting theme of 'Protecting the Environment', are:

• Keeping people safe in vulnerable situations
• A sustainable and prosperous economy
• Helping people and communities fulfil their potential
• Making best use of resources

In 2025/26, the County Council is proposing it will spend more than £2.2 billion on day-to-day services to meet increasing demand pressures and cost of services, particularly in social care, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and home to school transport. The proposed budget includes an additional £47.4m for those service demand pressures described as well as continuing additional investment in our roads.

This spend will be funded through several different sources – government grants, council tax, business rates, fees, charges, and rental income.

The pressures facing the County Council outweigh the funding received from government and a balanced budget is proposed by increasing council tax by 4.99% (2% for adults’ social care and 2.99% for general fund services), and spending reductions of £12.3m.

Alongside the day-to-day revenue budget, a five-year capital programme is also proposed which will see £118.6m of capital expenditure in 2025/26 and £739.9m across the five-year period of 2025/26 to 2029/30. The main areas of capital investment are in the county’s schools, the environment, and highway and roads.

The Cabinet is due to consider feedback from a public consultation at a meeting on 29 January before recommending the Council Plan and budget to Full Council in February for a final decision.

Despite the proposals to deliver a balanced budget for 2025/26, there remains a budget gap of between £50m and £191m between 2026/27 and 2029/30 depending on the level of Council Tax increase in these years.

The County Council continues to lobby government to highlight the need to have a national funding solution for social care, SEND, and home to school transport that meets local needs.