Budget setting
Walsall Council is legally required to set a balanced budget.
Over the last 14 years we have made savings of around £265 million. This is up to and including 2023/24. The saving is made up of:
- £107m because of reduced direct government grant funding
- £158m for funding of identified cost pressures
We need to save around another £32m to be able to balance the budget in 2024/25.
How we set the budget
There is a strong medium-term financial strategy in place. We review and refresh the budget annually. It follows detailed consideration of how to allocate available money to best serve the needs of our residents and communities.
Councillors discussed our 4-year financial plan at a full council meeting on 23 February 2023. They also approved the budget and council tax for 2023/24 (agenda item 10). It included a breakdown of how the budget will be distributed across services. Indicative plans for 2024/25 to 2027/28 will be reviewed alongside the council’s transformation programme.
On 18 October 2023, Cabinet received an update to budget plans for 2024/25 to 2027/28 (agenda item 8). The budget for 2024/25 is currently not balanced, with a further requirement to find c.£18m. A further update will be provided to Cabinet on 13 December 2023, along with an update following consultation.
Cabinet will recommend the final 2024/25 budget and future year’s plans on 7 February 2024 for approval by Council on 22 February 2024. Read the 'Corporate Budget Plan 2024/25 to 2027/28, incorporating the Capital Strategy; and the Treasury Management and Investment Strategy 2024/25' reports.
A summary of feedback from budget consultation and Cabinet’s decision for each policy proposal is available on our Draft policy and operational proposals page.
