Council approves balanced budget for next financial year

At a meeting on Tuesday (25 February), councillors approved:

• £366million of spending on services that serve 344,000 residents,
• plus £140million of investment on capital projects,
• and a further £78million of investment in the council’s housing stock.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance Councillor Paul Moore told the meeting: "Almost 60 per cent of our budget is spent on Adult Social Care and Children’s Services and Education – supporting the elderly, the vulnerable, the disabled and our children and young people. 

“This is a budget that makes sure we are supporting vulnerable people as much as we can.

“This is a budget that gets things done and delivers the services that matter to our residents.

“And this is a budget that gives us a foundation for long-term success that will make lasting changes to benefit our residents and borough for generations to come."

Councillor Moore told Tuesday’s meeting that the council had made “bold and difficult” decisions to balance the budget for 2025/26.

“Although we’re not facing the extreme financial challenges some councils are facing, we do have a £19 million budget gap for next year and legally have to set a balanced budget. So that has meant having to make some bold and difficult decisions,” he said.

“Like most councils, we are proposing an increase in Council Tax of 4.99% to allow us to continue to operate the services that really matter to our residents, in the face of increasing costs and demand. But some councils are increasing council tax by as much as double that, against a backdrop of higher borrowing. 

“Despite this, the amount the average Sandwell household pays towards Council Tax is the lowest in the West Midlands region and among the lowest in the country.

“We’ve done all we can to keep it that way,” Councillor Moore added.

Councillor Moore also explained how moving to alternate weekly bin collections was a vital step to increasing recycling rates and protecting the council from increased costs in the future.

“The bottom line is that we can’t continue to have one of the lowest rates in the country for recycling, when there is huge pressure on councils to increase this. Not just for the good of the environment, but because this is going to cost Council Tax payers in the long-term if we don’t do something now,” he said.

The council’s budget took into consideration findings from the biggest ever budget consultation which engaged with around 2,800 residents, businesses, voluntary sector organisations and young people.

Three quarters of Sandwell households are in the two lowest bands. The increase in Council Tax for these properties ranges from £1.11 per week for a Band A property to £1.30 per week for a Band B property.

One in three Band A properties and one in six Band B properties also receive a Council Tax reduction based on their income, meaning those households will see a lower increase in their bill.

Precepts for the police and fire service will be shown separately on Council Tax bills when they are sent to households in March.

Anyone struggling to pay their Council Tax should contact the Council Tax team or the Council’s Welfare Rights team to ask for advice and assistance.

Increase in Council Tax by band

*There are 136,641 dwellings in Sandwell

**There are 66 Band G properties in Sandwell

***There are 41 Band H properties in Sandwell

The above table shows the Council Tax proportion of 2025/26 bills. Precepts for police and fire service will be shown separately - the total amount payable for each band is shown in the table below.

The Council Tax levels shown apply to properties with two or more adults. Single person households will pay 25% less than this.

The 2025/25 budget delivers on the priorities in the Council Plan – Sandwell Council’s vision and hopes for the borough looking forward to 2027, including:

• Investing in a brand-new school and focusing on school attendance.
• Continuing to fund Youth Services and investing in playgrounds and play zones in open spaces.
• Putting young people at the centre of everything by working with UNICEF to become a Child Friendly Borough.
• Committing to improving services for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
• Delivering new homes and preventing homelessness.
• Working with the police and partners to further reduce serious youth violence – which has reduced by 20% in Sandwell over the past year.
• Tackling fly-tipping to keep our communities clean and safe. 
• A one-off deep clean up in every ward.
• Increased investment in small and medium road safety schemes to help make our streets safer.
• More than 30 park improvement projects planned, and the building of Sandwell’s first new park in its history.
• £256,000 of investment in CCTV and ANPR cameras to tackle ASB and environmental crimes.
• Spending more on tree maintenance and protecting the pest control service.
• Investment in new electric street cleansing vehicles.
• Moving ahead with the Birchley Island M5 Junction 2 improvement scheme.
• A sixth new leisure centre in 12 years at Haden Hill.
• Additional support for adult social care provider markets. 
• Reducing drug and alcohol-related deaths.
• Continuing to fund food banks and pantries.
• Freezing parking charges in town centres and across the borough
• Investing up to £55million in highways
• Improving customer service and keeping our face-to-face offices open.