Gloucestershire council tax to rise by hundreds of pounds

It's the time of year when Gloucestershire's local councils turn their attention to finances and budget setting for the fiscal year ahead.

And with that comes new council tax rates for residents.

Leaders have warned that local authorities are facing intense pressure to deliver more with less money.

This inevitably means an increase in bills for households and difficult decisions when it comes to choosing which services to invest in.

Over the next fortnight Gloucestershire's County Council and six district councils will formally approve how they will spend their budgets over the 2026/27 fiscal year.

Councils get their money from a number of sources, including funding from central government, council tax, charges for services such as car parking, and dividends from investments.

Authorities have to deliver a balanced budget each year to cover the cost of providing services, which includes social care, road maintenance and libraries for the county council, and bin collection, parks and cemeteries for the districts.

Total council tax bills have increased each year across Gloucestershire for more than a decade, and next year will follow the same pattern.

Council tax bills in Gloucestershire are split in to a number of sections.

The county council takes the largest section of the bill at 75%, with the police receiving roughly 14% and district, town and parish councils getting the remaining 11%.

For next year the county council is proposing to increase its section of the bill by 4.99% - which is the maximum permitted without the need to hold a referendum.

This breaks down to 2.99% for general council services and a specific 2% levy for adult social care.

If approved on Wednesday, this would see its part of the bill rise by £83.81 to £1,763.46 for a Band D property.

The leading Liberal Democrat group has said it will put more money in to road maintenance and Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND), but is also proposing to increase parking charges.

The six districts are planning increases of between 2.99% and 3.35% – taking their sections of the bill to between £155 in Tewkesbury to £252 in Cheltenham.

The Police and Crime Commissioner, Chris Nelson, will be increasing the police's part by 5.7% to £340.

Town and parish councils are also considering hikes.

Due to the number of councils and individual boundaries it is difficult to give an accurate overall estimate for council tax in the county, but if all budgets are approved, an average Band D property will pay approximately £2,320 next year.

Councils across Gloucestershire and England as a whole say they are under huge financial strain.

Many claim they are being forced to take on more responsibilities and face higher service demands with less help from central government.

At the start of the month a Local Government Association (LGA) report found six in 10 councils in England said they will find it difficult to set a balanced budget for the next financial year, and eight in 10 will likely apply for help from central government under a process called Exceptional Financial Support (EFS).

Louise Gittins, LGA Chair, said: "Councils are doing everything they can to protect the services people rely on but demand and costs continue to rise faster than funding, leaving many with no choice but to consider emergency financial support."

When it comes to Gloucestershire County Council, 75% of its budget is spent on social care, a statutory service which it has to provide by law.

Liberal Democrat council leader Lisa Spivey said this puts pressure on spending in other departments.

"The reality is there is just not enough money to go around, so when residents expect us to fill more potholes in, resurface roads, but also deliver adult care, children's social services, it's really really difficult," she added.

"What we really need is more money across the country."

Central government has announced it will cover 90% the growing local authority debt around SEND services in England, which is estimated to reach up to £211m in Gloucestershire by 2028.

Even with this help, there are widespread concerns councils in England will only be able to provide statutory services in the near future, with others such as libraries and museums having to be cut back completely.

"Without a real injection of more money in to the system as a whole, we will get to a point where we'll have to make really difficult decisions about what we can do and what we can't do," Spivey added.

And it's not just large authorities which are struggling.

Gloucester City Council is currently waiting to hear if the government will loan it £15.5m to help keep it solvent.

It follows a cyber attack in 2021 and an over estimation of how much money its services and investments would make.

In a statement the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) said it inherited an "outdated and unfair funding system" which it is "taking action" to fix.

This included "making almost £78 billion available" for council finances and £660 million for Gloucestershire.

"We are delivering fairer funding, targeting money where it is needed most through the first multi-year settlement in a decade, giving councils greater certainty to plan and invest for the long term," the spokesperson added.

"This will help councils deliver the high-quality public services local people need."

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