A consultation has started which is encouraging residents, businesses and organisations in Coventry to tell us what they think about a list of proposed financial savings.
The proposals have been put together to help us achieve a balanced budget for 2025-26.
We don’t want to have to make the proposals but need to consider them out of necessity. All councils are facing very similar circumstances to bridge budget gaps.
Like other local authorities we have a legal duty to achieve a balance budget.
However, no decisions have yet been made. That will not happen until the end of February.
In the meantime, the consultation will allow residents to see the savings proposals and to feed back with their comments. The consultation will run until Tuesday 28 January.
Headlines
The Council faces a gap for 2025/26, largely due to further financial pressures in social care and housing, of over £13m. Additional government resources help mitigate some of these pressures, but savings will still be required to balance the books.
Coventry is dealing with 14 years of underfunding, while there have been unprecedented rises in demand, inflation and costs.
More than 80 per cent of the Council’s net budget is spent on three areas – homelessness, adult social care and children’s social care – up from just over 50 per cent in 2010. It leaves less than 20 per cent to pay for hundreds of other services the Council delivers every year.
Savings proposals being considered include:
- A savings target across senior management posts
- Savings across adults’ and children’s social care
- Reductions in cleansing services
- Reductions in parks services
- Charging at the War Memorial Park car park
- Removing the Community Support Grant for one year, offset by the extended Household Support Grant
- Reducing Council Tax support discount from 80% to 75%
- Reducing the number of portacabins set up at elections
- Reducing voluntary sector contributions
Tell us what you think at: Budget Consultation 2025/26 | Let's Talk Coventry
Find out more about our finances at Budget 2025/26.