Have your say on Bradford Council’s savings proposals for 2025-26

On 5 November, Bradford Council’s Executive Committee discussed new plans to save money and ensure the Council’s financial stability.

The committee reviewed a report with 47 savings proposals, totalling £33.84m for the 2025-26 budget. Most of these proposals aim to increase efficiency, reduce demand, or boost income, rather than cutting services. Key proposals include:

• Saving £1.6m by improving customer services with voice automation and other digital technologies.
• Generating £400k by increasing garden waste charges in 2025/26.
• Saving £138k on street lighting by further dimming LED lights.
• Raising £580k by adding more enforcement sites to reduce dangerous driving and ease congestion.
• Implementing the new H-FAST service to help people leave the hospital sooner with lower social care needs.

The Council considers these savings to be necessary to address its financial challenges, as outlined in its Medium Term Financial Strategy from July 2024. The Council is also working with the Bradford Children Families Trust to reduce the rising costs of children’s social care. The Trust has identified £16.2m in savings and is developing an additional £600k in proposals to improve outcomes for children.

The Council is making good progress towards the £48.6m savings it agreed in March, as part of the five-year improvement plan. However, the 2023/24 budget was overspent by £80m, leading to a structural budget gap of £120m. For 2024/25, the estimated budget deficit is £140m, and the Council has an agreement in principle for further government support.

Bradford Council’s Executive Committee invites you to provide feedback on these savings proposals to help the Council make its final budget decisions in March 2025.