Wiltshire Council has published its budget proposals for 2025/26 which reveal plans to spend £37m more on services than last year.
The papers still have to go through a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, February 4, and a full council meeting on Tuesday, February 25, but council leader Cllr Richard Clewer has described himself as “proud of where Wiltshire is” financially.
A key difference for residents this year is a 4.5 per cent rise in council tax, rather than the maximum 4.99 per cent usually taken by the council.
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Cabinet member for finance Cllr Nick Botterill agreed that it would have been done before if possible and added: “It’s about not taking more money off people than is necessary.”
The proposed budget is £527.42m, compared to last year’s £490m.
The council tax rise would correspond to 2.5 per cent for basic council tax and a 2 per cent adult social care levy.
If agreed, this would see an increase of £1.56 per week for those in a Band D property for the Wiltshire Council element of council tax.
The social care levy would raise £7m to help with the increased demand for adult social care, which Cllr Clewer recognised as a definite challenge, accounting for £194m of the total budget.
Other areas of significant spending would include £75m on families and children, £43.4m on transport, £49.5m on the environment (including waste), and £38.08m on education and skills.
Cllr Clewer said: “It does get harder every year but from our perspective we are still in a good financial position.
“We are still in a position that I think most councils would envy.”
However, he described it as “really frustrating” to receive just under £8m less total funding from central government.
This came after the Rural Services Delivery Grant fell among the funds being “repurposed” to redirect money towards more deprived areas of the country.
Wiltshire Council’s proposals provide the details of savings totalling £15.4m, £14.2m of which was included in last year’s budget setting process and previously approved.
That £14.2m figure was later amended to £9m to reflect changes since it was originally set.
Around £6.4m of new savings have been identified to close the remaining budget gap for 2025/26.
Cllr Botterill explained: “The general level of reserves for 25/26 will be £34m, which is considered to be more than the risks that have been identified.”
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Meanwhile, the council's capital programme, which refers to investment into the infrastructure of the county, has been budgeted at around £253m.
According to the council, it is likely that the capital budget will change throughout the year as time frames on major capital projects commonly evolve, particularly given the current unpredictable nature of inflation.
Some of the capital spend will include £40.5m on council house building and stock refurbishment, £28.6m on SEND provision which includes Silverwood school, £16.2m on structural maintenance and bridges, £14m on Trowbridge leisure centre, and £13.9m on the A350 Chippenham bypass phases four and five.
Cllr Clewer said: “I’m actually pretty proud of where Wiltshire is.
“Not only are we financially stable, we are investing in services rather than cutting them.”
He concluded: “That’s what prevention is about, it’s about making the lives of the most vulnerable residents better.
“Much of our job is providing a safety net for people who can’t support themselves and maintaining that is critical.”
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