Budget proposes new homes, new community centres and increased grass cutting 

The Council has announced its draft Budget for 2025/26 and its draft medium-term financial plan until 2029. 

Against a backdrop of austerity, pandemic, inflation and councils going bankrupt across the UK, Oxford City Council has announced a balanced budget for the next four years. 

This has been achieved in part through the ‘Oxford Model’, which will see the Council’s companies generate £19m in profit to help fund services over the next four years. 

The Budget proposals will be discussed at a Cabinet meeting on 11 December, after which a public consultation will be opened to get the views of Oxford residents. 

Key Budget proposals 

The Council’s Budget proposals for 2025/26 include funding for: 

• Almost 1,600 new homes for Oxford 

• Two new community centres, in East Oxford and Blackbird Leys 

• Increased grass cutting across Oxford 

• Increased litter picking across Oxford 

• £22m to improve the energy efficiency of council homes 

• A new splash park in Hinksey 

• A freeze on pitch-hire fees for sports teams 

The Council will also continue to maintain its leisure centres, community centres, parks, youth clubs, and other existing support for residents and businesses. 

Housing 

The new Budget proposals include funding to build 1,275 new council homes over the next eight years and buy a further 283 more. 

This will take the number of council homes to almost 9,500. 

Council homes aim to provide genuinely affordable housing for Oxford residents. Council rent is typically around 40% of the rent a private landlord would charge for the same home. 

The new Budget also proposes £22m for energy efficiency works over the next five years to existing Council homes, which will help make the homes warmer and reduce energy use for tenants. 

Grass cutting 

Grass verges are the responsibility of Oxfordshire County Council, as the highways authority.  However, Oxford City Council and ODS manage the verges on behalf of – and paid for by – Oxfordshire County Council. 

In 2023, Oxfordshire County Council introduced a new verge maintenance policy, which reduced the amount of grass verge cutting in Oxford to a single cut each year. 

Following significant public feedback, Oxford City Council is proposing to pick up the pieces of this decision and increase the budget for grass cutting in Oxford. 

Oxford City Council proposes to fund verge cutting at least three times a year in Oxford from 2025. 

The Council is also proposing to increase grass cutting in parks from five cuts back to eight cuts per year, and provide an additional litter pick in parks each week during the busy summer months. 

Oxford Model 

The Council has dealt with extremely challenging financial circumstances over recent years, including 14 years of austerity, the Covid-19 pandemic, rising inflation, and a temporary accommodation crisis. 

However, Oxford City Council saw the direction of travel of local government finance years ago and acted accordingly. 

In 2017, the Council converted about half the organisation into a business, ODS. ODS still cleans the streets, collects bins and maintains parks for residents, but it now also sells those services to businesses and institutions to generate income. 

In 2016, the Council created a housing company, OX Place. OX Place’s main goal is to build new council homes for Oxford residents, but it also builds shared ownership and open market sale homes, which generates income for the Council. 

Both companies are expected to generate about £19m for the Council over the next four years, which will help fund front-line Council services, such as community centres, parks and youth clubs. 

The ‘Oxford Model’ now represents 10% of the Council’s annual Budget. This compares to 26% for fees and charges, 20% for Council Tax, 15% for Business Rates and 15% for commercial rent. Government grants represent just 6% of the Council’s budget. 

Efficiencies and charges 

Despite the relatively strong financial position, particularly compared with other councils across the country, there is still a need to make efficiency savings and increase charges. 

The Budget proposes £3.8m of new efficiencies from 2028/29, including using robotics and automation to reduce customer and financial services teams, increasing digitisation to reduce costs in planning, and reducing the size of ODS’s fleet. 

Sadly, some reductions in spending are necessary, including a proposal no longer to allow ward councillors a sum of money to allocate each year. 

Some fees and charges will also be increased, including replacement bins (from £35 to £36.50), bulky waste collection (from £22 to £23.50), pest control (10%), garages (4%) and taxi licenses (4%-5%). 

City centre car parking will be increased by 30p per hour, but no increase is proposed for parking-only park and ride tariffs. 

Council tax 

The Budget proposes an increase in Council Tax by 2.99% for 2025/26. 

For a Band D Council Tax property, a 2.99% increase equates to £10.36 per year (or 20p a week), bringing a total charge of £356.72 per annum (or £6.86 per week) to fund Oxford City Council. 

Separate Council Tax precepts support Oxfordshire County Council, the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner and the Parish Councils in Blackbird Leys, Old Marston, Littlemore and Risinghurst & Sandhills. 

Oxford City Council currently provides a full discount on Council Tax for Oxford residents on the lowest incomes. It is one of relatively few councils across the UK to still do so. 

Next steps and more information 

The Budget proposals will be discussed at Cabinet meeting on 11 December. 

If approved, the draft Budget will go out to public consultation, so Oxford residents can have their say. 

For more information, and to read the full Budget proposals, visit the Council's website. 

Comment 

Councillor Ed Turner, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Asset Management, said: “We are acutely aware that Oxford residents are struggling financially, and the main cause of this is the high cost of housing. Our Budget proposals aim to respond to this, with 1,600 new council homes over the next eight years to help provide genuinely affordable housing for Oxford residents. 

“But this Budget is also about getting the basics right. That’s why we are increasing litter picking and grass cutting across Oxford. It is frustrating to have to pick up the pieces of Oxfordshire County Council’s decision to cut funding for grass cutting but, given the strength of feeling, we think it’s the right thing to do. 

“Thanks to the Oxford Model and our financial prudence over many years, we are also able to invest in Oxford. We are proposing to build two new community centres, a new splash park in Hinksey and to improve the energy efficiency of our council homes.”