Budget plans scrutinised by Hertfordshire councillors as authority plans maximum tax increase

At the heart of the budget proposals, is the allocation of £1.184bn to deliver services that include social care, children’s services, highways, waste disposal and public health.

And the plans will now form the basis of up to six weeks of consultation and scrutiny, before the council’s budget-setting meeting on February 25.

Presenting the proposals, executive member for resources and performance Councillor Bob Deering said that the financial climate was getting “harder and harder” – while demand for services was “burgeoning” and funds were limited.

He highlighted the government’s planned increases in the employers’ National Insurance contributions, which he said would increase county council overheads by £20m.

And he pointed to a government decision “to deflect some funding to other parts of the country”.

Nevertheless he said the council’s proposals were for a balanced budget that would deliver continuous transformation and increased efficiency, whilst maintaining front-line services.

“We will be spending over £1.1bn providing services for our residents in the forthcoming year,” he said. “That will deliver increased investment of £128m, compared to 24/25.

“This is absolutely, by no means, easy to achieve. But we have worked very hard to identify further savings and efficiencies that will enable us to do this.

“We will find further operational savings of about £42m. We will re-purpose some of our transformation reserves. And we will also deliver £9m in procurement savings.”

Councillor Deering said that these measures would be coupled with a proposed increase in council tax of 4.99 per cent, including two per cent to support adult social care.

For Band D households, he said, that increase in Council Tax would equate to an extra £1.62 a week.

At the meeting Councillor Deering highlighted the £500m that would be allocated to support 30,000 adults in the county as part of the 2025/6 proposals, as well as the £250m to support children.

He also pointed to £100m earmarked for the county’s highways and to investment in services related to domestic abuse.

And he said the council had formulated “an extremely good” budget for 25/26, in the face of “extreme challenges” that he said were not of the county council’s making.

Meanwhile leader of the county council Councillor Richard Roberts also pointed on the increasing demand for council services, which he said had required spending to increase.

But he stressed that the proposals – which include £42m of ‘savings’ and the use of £3m of council reserves – were for a balanced budget.

He pointed to £117m of savings made or planned, between 23/24 and the end of 25/26.

And he also suggested that that “says something” about council’s attitude to making sure the demand for an increase in Council Tax was matched by savings and efficiencies.

“So not just going cap in hand to our residents,” he said.

“We are making sure that we have got the most efficient and effective service delivery through this organisation that we can possibly have.”

The budget is scheduled to be determined by a meeting of the full council on 25 February.

In the six weeks leading up to that meeting proposals for each division of the council will be subject to scrutiny by councillors.

And public consultation on the 25/26 budget proposals – on the council website – is running until 5 February.