Council approve £567 million 2023/24 budget

The budget is an increase of almost £46 million on 2022/23 levels and was approved by Council at a meeting on Wednesday, 15 February.

A total of £235 million has been invested into the capital programme as we continue to significantly invest in a range of schemes and projects to improve the lives of Gloucestershire’s residents

Funding worth £119 million has been agreed to complete exciting infrastructure projects such as the Gloucester South-West Bypass, Arle Court Transport Hub, the flagship 26-mile cycle spine, and flood alleviation schemes like those in Nailsworth, Coleford and Pittville.

The council agreed to commit a further £21 million into protecting the county’s vulnerable children and a further £20 million into supporting vulnerable adults and those living with a disability. 

As well as this, the budget also includes:

• £44 million for schools across the county, including £9.9 million towards the cost of building a new primary school in Bishop’s Cleeve
• £1.1 million for our libraries, including £617,000 towards improvements at libraries across the county
• £4.4 million for Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, including £2.9 million for new fire engines and equipment

Despite the extra investment, the council is still expected to have one of the lowest council tax levels of any county council.

The budget will raise around £13.6 million to help fund services through a council tax increase of 2.99%. We will also apply the national social care precept at 2% to raise an additional £7.4 million to support the thousands of vulnerable adults we work with each year. Based on a band D property, this equates to a £6.04 monthly increase.

The council continues to challenge itself to work more effectively and as a result has identified £32 million in savings and efficiencies for next year.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, leader of Gloucestershire County Council, said: “Our ambitious plans to deliver for you in 2023/24 will see the council’s spending reach £567 million, an increase of almost £46 million on 2022/23 levels.

“Like most households, we have challenged ourselves on how we can be more efficient to make the money go further for the year ahead and we have already identified £32 million of savings.

“The agreed budget will raise £13.6 million to help fund services through a council tax increase of 2.99%, and £7.4 million to support the most vulnerable adults in the county through a 2% increase of the adult social care precept.

“We know this comes at a time when every household’s purse is being squeezed. It is not a decision we have taken lightly, but to go on delivering for every resident in Gloucestershire, it is a necessary one.”

Cllr Ben Evans, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, said: "We were pleased to see our budget amendments were accepted as we believe they will deliver real improvements to the lives of local residents and respond to the concerns people have been raising with us.

"As a result of these amendments being passed, the council will be able to act more quickly on making the county’s roads safer, improve pedestrian access to our shopping parades, and enable our local communities to respond better to Winter weather events."

Cllr John Bloxsom, Leader of the Labour Group, said: “I am pleased to see our amendments be accepted into the budget and that will see an additional £100,000 put into footpath resurfacing across the county.”

Cllr Cate Cody, Leader of the Green Group, said: “The Green amendments, that were unanimously supported across the Council, have significantly improved this budget.

“These changes, which include an electric bike hire scheme, safe bike storage solutions, extra funding for Public Rights of Way and River Restoration work will make a real difference to people’s lives.” 

There were 15 amendments put forward by the political groups of the council and these were accepted by the council’s executive and incorporated into the substantive budget. The amendments total £1.6m and address several issues such as:

• £150,000 to trial an E-Bike hire scheme
• £90,000 to provide secure bike hangers for public use across Gloucestershire
• £100,000 to fund footpath resurfacing
• £150,000 to accelerate the delivery of Traffic Regulation Orders and reduce the current backlog

Full details on the amendments can be found on the council website.