Balanced budget promises spending on front-line services

Cabinet is due to recommend its budget, including a maximum 7p-a-week council tax increase for most residents, to Full Council for approval in the New Year.

With a legal requirement preventing councils from borrowing to run day-to-day services, the council has balanced its budget and remains debt-free while investing in communities, job creation and quality of life.

Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said:

Yet again as the council closest to our residents we are prioritising delivery of the local services that matter to people, while working hard to keep our council tax increases as low as possible.

 

The vast majority of our residents live in properties in Band A-to-C and if this proposal is approved, that means for four out of every five households the Borough Council’s share of council tax increase will be 7p a week or less.”

Investment continues in the regeneration of Ryecroft, Astley Place and Midway, which will bring scores of homes, shops and a hotel to the town centre, along with the opening of a clean safe car park for shoppers and visitors.

Waste collection and recycling; hygiene inspections of restaurants, cafes and takeaways; street cleaning; running both the J2 leisure centre and Brampton Museum; and maintaining parks and green spaces are all delivered by the Borough Council, while it also maintains the resources to fund legal action against the operators of Walleys Quarry.

Specific investment in Kidsgrove includes creating jobs in the area by developing the employment site at Chatterley Valley West, supporting the town centre by moving all the public services into one place, which will increase footfall, and by opening up the route connecting the canal to the town centre to boost tourism and passing trade.

The proposal is that Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council’s council tax will increase by 1.99% and that includes money set aside to support the Civic Pride initiative: a long-term programme intended to make a positive difference across the whole borough by working with others to create a strong sense of belonging to, and pride in, where we live.

Stephen Sweeney, Deputy Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and Cabinet member for Finance, Town Centres and Growth, said:

With wage rises, increasing energy costs and other financial pressures, local authorities have to be focused on what they do to make every penny count.
 

Over the last three years our ‘One Council’ improvement programme, which looked afresh at how we work, has produced £1.173 million of savings every year, without compulsory redundancies, which means we can continue to focus on front line services that matter to our residents.”

The proposed weekly increase for 2025/26 is: