Bradford Council's Budget Proposals for 2024-25

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Consultation has concluded.

Have your say - Budget proposals 2024-25

Have your say on the Council's Proposed Financial Plan and Budget proposals for 2024 - 2025, and Council Tax proposals now


Background

The proposals have been developed under an unprecedented level of financial pressure due mostly to the continued significant increases in Children’s and Adult Social Care demand and cost pressures that are consuming an ever-greater proportion of the council’s resources.

Since 2011 Bradford Council has had to find over £350m in cuts and savings due to national austerity measures, inflation and increased demand. More recently exceptional inflation and energy prices have put additional pressure on budgets for all local authorities.

In 2023-24 the Council used c£48m of one-off reserves to help balance the budget and pay for children’s social care and other pressures. Costs have however continued to grow, and the council is forecast to overspend by c£73m in 2023-24. This therefore results in a c£120m gap in 2023 -24.

Financial management

The council has already stopped all non-essential spending, frozen non-essential recruitment and is conducting a full spending review. It is working with the children’s trust to help control and reduce costs, has reviewed reserves and the capital programme, increased fees and charges and begun a wide-ranging transformation programme.

Along with a number of other local authorities, Bradford has requested Exceptional Financial Support from Government.

The council has been in close dialogue with the Department of Levelling up Housing & Communities (DLUHC) and the Department for Education (DfE) about its financial challenges over the last year and has submitted an application for Exceptional Financial Support, and the budget for 2024-25 will only be able to be balanced with this support.

The council is working on a multi-year plan to get the council back to a sustainable budget level, and the strategy for achieving this will involve further savings; service transformation in council services and the Bradford Children and Families Trust, generating income from a variety of sources, and regeneration and growth.

Budget position and proposals

The proposals seek to meet cost pressures arising from inflation and growing demand; and continue to support the most vulnerable. To fund these increases, the council will have to implement a significant budget savings programme. There will still however be a remaining overall council budget gap of c£92.8m in 2024-25.

The budget proposals include closing some sports centres, libraries and household waste recycling centres, changes in opening hours and an increase in some fees and charges. The council has been given no choice and must increase Council Tax in line with the Government’s own assumptions. These are very difficult decisions that will have to be made.

Council Tax proposals

It is proposed that Council Tax is increased by 2.99% and an Adult Social Care precept increase of 2% is levied. Overall, Council Tax would still remain comparatively low compared to other West Yorkshire councils and metropolitan councils. Bradford’s Band D Council tax is 8% below the average for metropolitan authorities and 80% of households in Bradford district are below Band D. The most, therefore, that can be raised through an increase in Council Tax in Bradford, under the current threshold, is £11m a year, which is dwarfed by the scale of the challenges faced.

Consultation and budget setting process

At its meeting on 11 January 2024 the Council’s Executive committee recommended its Proposed Financial Plan and Budget Proposals for 2024-25 (PDF) including Council tax proposals, for consultation.

The budget proposals for 2024-25 will be subject to widespread public consultation, including on this website and on our Let’s Talk Bradford platform. More information about different ways to take part is on About the budget consultation and how to take part.

On 22 February 2024 the Council will meet to decide its budget and spending plans for 2024-25.

Please tell us what you think about the Executive’s proposals. Tell us what matters most to you, give us your ideas about what could change, how we could increase income and what part you and others could play in meeting the challenges our district faces.

About the budget consultation

The Council is committed to consulting with local people, businesses, groups, trade unions, staff and other interested parties throughout our budget setting process to:

  • be as open, fair and transparent as possible.
  • meet our responsibilities under best value statutory guidance.
  • ensure we meet our specific duties under the public sector equalities legislation.
  • and, most importantly, to provide councillors with more information to help them make difficult decisions when setting the budget.

Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs)

To ensure that the Council complies with its public sector equality duty, and to ensure budget setting is carried out in as fair and as transparent a way as possible, the draft proposals are subject to a systematic process of ‘Equality Impact Assessments’ (EIAs).

This EIA process helps show up whether any of the budget proposals may affect any particular groups more so than the district’s population as a whole. If this were the case, this would be considered to be a ‘disproportionate impact’ on those people.

Where any potential disproportionate impact on the groups identified in the equality legislation, and against our locally agreed protected characteristic of low income, is highlighted, we will consider the actions that could be taken to mitigate those negative effects. These EIAs will be available for you to view shortly.

What are we consulting on?

We are consulting on our Proposed Financial Plan and Budget proposals for 2024-25. The detail of what we are consulting on is published in these pages and documents as shown in the 'Documents' panel on this page.

Printed copies of the budget proposals will be available on request – please call 01274 431000 if you would like to request a copy.

There will also be consultation sessions happening – details of these will be added soon.

The Executive has demonstrated in the past that it is prepared to listen and to modify, change and, if appropriate, withdraw budget proposals in response to the outcomes of public consultation.











Have your say on the Council's Proposed Financial Plan and Budget proposals for 2024 - 2025, and Council Tax proposals now


Background

The proposals have been developed under an unprecedented level of financial pressure due mostly to the continued significant increases in Children’s and Adult Social Care demand and cost pressures that are consuming an ever-greater proportion of the council’s resources.

Since 2011 Bradford Council has had to find over £350m in cuts and savings due to national austerity measures, inflation and increased demand. More recently exceptional inflation and energy prices have put additional pressure on budgets for all local authorities.

In 2023-24 the Council used c£48m of one-off reserves to help balance the budget and pay for children’s social care and other pressures. Costs have however continued to grow, and the council is forecast to overspend by c£73m in 2023-24. This therefore results in a c£120m gap in 2023 -24.

Financial management

The council has already stopped all non-essential spending, frozen non-essential recruitment and is conducting a full spending review. It is working with the children’s trust to help control and reduce costs, has reviewed reserves and the capital programme, increased fees and charges and begun a wide-ranging transformation programme.

Along with a number of other local authorities, Bradford has requested Exceptional Financial Support from Government.

The council has been in close dialogue with the Department of Levelling up Housing & Communities (DLUHC) and the Department for Education (DfE) about its financial challenges over the last year and has submitted an application for Exceptional Financial Support, and the budget for 2024-25 will only be able to be balanced with this support.

The council is working on a multi-year plan to get the council back to a sustainable budget level, and the strategy for achieving this will involve further savings; service transformation in council services and the Bradford Children and Families Trust, generating income from a variety of sources, and regeneration and growth.

Budget position and proposals

The proposals seek to meet cost pressures arising from inflation and growing demand; and continue to support the most vulnerable. To fund these increases, the council will have to implement a significant budget savings programme. There will still however be a remaining overall council budget gap of c£92.8m in 2024-25.

The budget proposals include closing some sports centres, libraries and household waste recycling centres, changes in opening hours and an increase in some fees and charges. The council has been given no choice and must increase Council Tax in line with the Government’s own assumptions. These are very difficult decisions that will have to be made.

Council Tax proposals

It is proposed that Council Tax is increased by 2.99% and an Adult Social Care precept increase of 2% is levied. Overall, Council Tax would still remain comparatively low compared to other West Yorkshire councils and metropolitan councils. Bradford’s Band D Council tax is 8% below the average for metropolitan authorities and 80% of households in Bradford district are below Band D. The most, therefore, that can be raised through an increase in Council Tax in Bradford, under the current threshold, is £11m a year, which is dwarfed by the scale of the challenges faced.

Consultation and budget setting process

At its meeting on 11 January 2024 the Council’s Executive committee recommended its Proposed Financial Plan and Budget Proposals for 2024-25 (PDF) including Council tax proposals, for consultation.

The budget proposals for 2024-25 will be subject to widespread public consultation, including on this website and on our Let’s Talk Bradford platform. More information about different ways to take part is on About the budget consultation and how to take part.

On 22 February 2024 the Council will meet to decide its budget and spending plans for 2024-25.

Please tell us what you think about the Executive’s proposals. Tell us what matters most to you, give us your ideas about what could change, how we could increase income and what part you and others could play in meeting the challenges our district faces.

About the budget consultation

The Council is committed to consulting with local people, businesses, groups, trade unions, staff and other interested parties throughout our budget setting process to:

  • be as open, fair and transparent as possible.
  • meet our responsibilities under best value statutory guidance.
  • ensure we meet our specific duties under the public sector equalities legislation.
  • and, most importantly, to provide councillors with more information to help them make difficult decisions when setting the budget.

Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs)

To ensure that the Council complies with its public sector equality duty, and to ensure budget setting is carried out in as fair and as transparent a way as possible, the draft proposals are subject to a systematic process of ‘Equality Impact Assessments’ (EIAs).

This EIA process helps show up whether any of the budget proposals may affect any particular groups more so than the district’s population as a whole. If this were the case, this would be considered to be a ‘disproportionate impact’ on those people.

Where any potential disproportionate impact on the groups identified in the equality legislation, and against our locally agreed protected characteristic of low income, is highlighted, we will consider the actions that could be taken to mitigate those negative effects. These EIAs will be available for you to view shortly.

What are we consulting on?

We are consulting on our Proposed Financial Plan and Budget proposals for 2024-25. The detail of what we are consulting on is published in these pages and documents as shown in the 'Documents' panel on this page.

Printed copies of the budget proposals will be available on request – please call 01274 431000 if you would like to request a copy.

There will also be consultation sessions happening – details of these will be added soon.

The Executive has demonstrated in the past that it is prepared to listen and to modify, change and, if appropriate, withdraw budget proposals in response to the outcomes of public consultation.