Faced with inflation, rising demand for social care and years of Government cuts, it has some tough decisions to make to balance the books in 2025-26.
Since 2010 the council has saved £381m and is forecast to save a further £62.8m over the next three years - £21.3m next year rising to £23.5m in 2026-27 and then £18m in 2027-28.
Cabinet will meet on Tuesday, December 10, to consider the proposals and begin a five-week consultation period so the public and partners can give their views.
Proposals include:
- Raising council tax by 2.99%
- Applying 2% increase in the Government’s Adult Social Care Precept
- Reducing spend in Adult Social Care by approximately £8.3m through promoting independence and community resilience.
- Implementing a £3 flat rate for all types of paid for school meals saving £621,000, safeguarding the service for the future.
- Raise most fees and charges in line with inflation.
- Raise the garden waste collection charge by £2.
The authority proposes to save £21.3m by:
- Organisational efficiency and effectiveness £9.3m
- Promoting independence and community resilience £8.3m
- Generating additional income £3.7m
- Reducing services £0.1m
It plans to spend all the additional £9.2m raised through council tax on frontline services and remodel its social care services while trying to minimise the impact on service users.
It proposes net spend of £293m on day-to-day services and to invest £153.4m on capital projects such as new housing, roads and schools which support the economy and create employment opportunities. Money for capital projects cannot legally be spent on services.
The authority will shed 40 posts which it plans to achieve by deletion of vacancies and redeployment. It will work closely with trade unions to avoid compulsory redundancies.
Leader of Newcastle City Council, Cllr Karen Kilgour, said: “The council faces some big financial challenges after many years of Government underfunding.
“Providing social care to adults and caring for children with special educational needs is placing councils up and down the country under severe financial pressure.
“More and more councils have either gone bust or declared themselves in financial stress. Thankfully, Newcastle is not one of them because we’ve faced up to the difficult decisions in the past.
“The new Government has made a good start by announcing more investment in health, schools, social housing, social care, and children with special educational needs but the council still faces some stark choices.
“I look forward to targeted multi-year funding settlements for local government in future, which should benefit councils like ours, however we still have significant savings to make next year.
“All of our proposals are designed to minimise the impact on our most vulnerable, but it won’t be easy. By putting residents at the heart of everything we do and working with partners I am confident we will balance the budget and continue to provide the kind of good quality services the people of Newcastle deserve.
“I would urge everyone to look at our savings proposals and take part in the consultation which runs until 15 January 2025.”
There are various ways to take part in the consultation.
- From December 11 try the online budget simulator, which allows participants to set their own spending priorities for the council – go to: https://www.letstalkbudget.org.uk/
- Give your views on our proposed changes to our services and on the budget as a whole by:
- Completing a short form on our consultation webpage, Let’s Talk Newcastle Online: www.letstalknewcastle.co.uk/
- Emailing us at : letstalk@newcastle.gov.uk
- Writing to: FREEPOST Letstalk (this is the complete address)
- Anyone with questions about this, or needing information in a different format (such as large print), can contact us by email, post, or call: 0191 278 78 78.
Click below to read the full budget report.
(Public Pack)Supplemental Agenda Agenda Supplement for Cabinet, 10/12/2024 18:00
The £381m saving the council has been forced to make since 2010 equates to a cut of £2,629 per household.
Combined increase of 4.99 percent for both Council Tax and Adult Social Care Precept (excluding police and fire precepts)
| Band | Current 2024-25 Charge (£) | Proposed 2025-26 Charge (£) | Proposed Annual Increase (£) | Proposed 2025-26 Charge for Single People (£) | Proposed Annual Increase for Single People (£) |
| A | 1,343.39 | 1,410.43 | 67.04 | 1,057.82 | 50.28 |
| B | 1,567.29 | 1,645.50 | 78.21 | 1,234.12 | 58.65 |
| C | 1,791.19 | 1,880.57 | 89.38 | 1,410.43 | 67.04 |
| D | 2,015.09 | 2,115.64 | 100.55 | 1,586.73 | 75.41 |
| E | 2,462.89 | 2,585.78 | 122.89 | 1,939.33 | 92.16 |
| F | 2,910.68 | 3,055.92 | 145.24 | 2,291.94 | 108.93 |
| G | 3,358.48 | 3,526.07 | 167.59 | 2,644.55 | 125.69 |
| H | 4,030.18 | 4,231.28 | 201.10 | 3,173.46 | 150.83 |