Following its approval by Oxford City Council’s Cabinet on 13 December, the Draft Budget 2024/25 and Medium Term Financial Strategy is now open for public consultation.
The consultation is now available on the consultation portal.
Every year, the Council spends around £100 million providing the services people use every day. Now, Oxford City Council wants to hear from its citizens on its budget proposals for the next few years.
The financial environment is increasing challenging. Dividend returns from the wholly owned companies, ODS and OX Place, are reducing as higher interest rates and inflation challenge their finances. The Council is spending substantially more money on heating and maintaining council buildings and leisure centres. The cost of living is increasing pressure on services and we need to support growing numbers of families falling into homelessness. In this challenging climate difficult decisions need to be taken.
A balanced budget over the next five years can be achieved through taking further efficiencies of £2.0 million through service transformation, increasing some fees and charges for discretionary services such as parking and garden waste collection, and utilising a further £7.3 million of the Council’s reserves. In addition to this, the Council is proposing service reductions of around £200,000 in 2024-25 - rising to £1.4 million in 2025-26 if additional Government funding is not secured.
While the Council is having to make difficult decisions due to the financial pressures it is facing, it confirms it will maintain a wide range services to residents and will continue to make substantial investments in the city:
- £553 million of capital investments in Oxford over the five-year period
- Delivery of 1,428 new homes, including 1,277 new council houses
- Planned refurbishment and improvement of Council housing stock £146 million over four years
- £7.6 million retrofit programme to upgrade the energy efficiency of c300 council houses
- £4.4 million to complete transformation of East Oxford Community Centre
- Up to £4 million investment to refurbish the Council’s leisure centres
The draft budget proposes a Council Tax rise of 2.99% for the next financial year from April 2024, an increase of £10.06 per year, or 19 pence per week, for the average band D household. It also proposes a continuation of full council tax relief for those on the lowest incomes for another year and charging a 100% council tax premium on second homes as well as removing the unfurnished empty homes discount.
Oxford's residents can have their say on the proposed budget priorities by visiting the draft budget consultation page.
“The Budget we face is the hardest yet. That is so because our funding as a City Council has been eroded each year in comparison with the pressures that we face. This year is substantially worse than others.
“We face unprecedented rises in costs to meet temporary housing needs, energy bills, construction costs, interest charges on borrowing and increased statutory obligations to our council house tenants.
“We are aware that across the sector other councils are facing bankruptcy. Closure of leisure centres is becoming an increasingly common phenomenon across the country. The Conservative leader of Hampshire Council talked of facing “financial meltdown” and stated that “the government must intervene.
“We are sending a message to politicians of all political colours loudly and clearly: local authorities have been cut to the bone since 2010 and the days of austerity, and this cannot continue without communities being harmed. We will continue to do our bit, making our organisation more efficient and going the extra mile to serve our communities, but we need central government, too, to play its part.
“It’s crucial that Oxford’s citizens take part in this consultation so that we can take on board how you feel in the face of these difficult proposals.”
Councillor Ed Turner, Board Member for Finance and Asset Management
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