Council budget with £10.5m bailout loan approved

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has passed its budget for 2026/27, which includes a £10.5m bailout loan, a 4.99% council tax increase, and £9.8m of savings.

The injection of £10.5m in exceptional financial support (EFS) is designed to keep services afloat.

It is the third time in three years the council has relied on EFS to balance its budget, prompting the leader of the Conservative opposition Lorraine Beardmore to brand the authority "a payday loan council".

Leaders of the Labour-run council insist the financial pressures are the result of "underfunding" by previous Conservative governments.

The labour administration also pointed out that this was the first council budget in years that did not include cuts to frontline services, with extra spending in areas such as heritage, fly-tipping and empty homes.

Following debate, councillors voted 28 to 13 in favour of approving the budget.

Thanks to a fair-funding settlement, Stoke-on-Trent has also seen a £13.3m cash boost from government.

Leaders say this funding allows for some investment in things like playgrounds, potholes, and flood-prevention work such as gully-cleaning.

But Labour councillor Sarah Hill, cabinet member for finance, told members that while the new settlement had resulted in additional support, the council still faced "significant challenges".

She added it was not enough to close the budget gap, which was why the council had requested EFS of £10.5m.

"The decision to ask for more EFS was not taken lightly," Hill said. "We don't wish to do this. However, requiring EFS is not a measure of our council's incompetence, it's a measure of underfunding over many years."

For opposition councillors, the approved budget does not go far enough for residents.

Beardmore said: "For a third year in a row this council proposes to rely on exceptional financial support from government to balance its budget, despite the fair funding review. We're effectively operating an overdraft facility for this council, one that our children and children's children will be left to repay."

Reform UK councillor Luke Shenton described Labour's decision as the "hat-trick of bailouts", adding: "This budget is built on higher taxes, higher borrowing, higher debt and wishful thinking."

Stoke-on-Trent is one of 35 local authorities that asked for EFS.

The main alteration made to the budget following consultation was on the proposal to replace the cafe at Dimensions leisure centre with vending machines, which would have saved £93,000.

The cafe will now be retained with a reduced subsidy.

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