Council survey shows support for education cuts

1 day ago

Gareth Lightfoot,Local Democracy Reporting Serviceand

Jonny Manning,North East and Cumbria

News image — Stockton residents said they were comfortable with less money being spent on education, transport to schools, and school support

BBC Dunedin House, Stockton Council's headquarters on Columbia Drive, Thornaby. A large blue sign guides people to the visitor reception. — Stockton residents said they were comfortable with less money being spent on education, transport to schools, and school support

Almost half of the residents who took part in their council's survey have said they supported it spending less on education.

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council carried out a budget consultation, called Let's Talk Money, and asked people how the local authority should reduce its spending.

Of the 774 people who took part, 47% said they would be comfortable with cutting spending on "education, transport to school and school support", while 56% supported a rise in council tax or the adult social care levy.

Deputy leader Paul Rowling said he did not want to raise council tax but not doing so would have an "immediate and severe impact".

The council is working to plug a £6.7m budget gap for 2026-27 and the survey was designed to find out whether people would be comfortable with cost-cutting measures and tax rises.

The local authority is expected to raise council tax by 4.95%, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Rowling said the council faced huge demands for its services, particularly its children's and adult's services, which made up more than 75% of its budget.

Stockton Waterfront spending

Stockton residents said they were most comfortable with cutting spending on business functions and democratic support (66%) and planning and economic development (50%).

Those who took part in the survey also suggested a number of possible measures to reduce costs.

One person called for the council to "get better value for money from large contracts", while another said the council should rely less on external consultants.

The council said it also received a number of comments about £300,000 being spent on an "opening party" for Stockton Waterfront.

Rowling said the money had been earmarked for a proposed series of events for the opening of the park, but was not for "a party".

"Moving forward, I can confirm cabinet will be recommending to council that we remove the £300,000 from the budget," he said.

"Any opening events for the project will be paid for using our existing events budget."