05/10/2026
We are encouraging residents, businesses, partners and community organisations across County Durham to share for their views on our proposed budget for 2027/28, along with our Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for the period up to 2030/31.
Like many local authorities across the country, we are facing significant financial pressures, with central Government funding expected to fall short of the unavoidable spending increases we have to factor in. The result is a forecasted budget deficit of £83.662 million over the next four years including £23.278 million in 2027/28 alone.
Rising demand and costs for essential, statutory services such as children’s and adult’s social care and home-to-school transport, along with increased energy and waste management costs, are the key contributors to the shortfall.
New savings proposals, totalling £21.5 million, have already been developed, but even if these are all delivered, a significant budget deficit of £62.143 million will remain across the four-year MTFP period.
A consultation has therefore been launched to gather feedback on:
• A range of new saving proposals across back-office functions and frontline services, as well as options for increased income generation for services we provide to customers directly on request.
• Improvements to how we operate, use technology and serve our communities over the longer-term, developed as part of the Changing Together transformation programme.
• Options for council tax increases over the next four years, ranging from no annual increase at all to annual increases of up to 4.99 per cent. The latter is the maximum annual increase allowed, and the percentage rise the Government assumes councils will implement each year when it allocates local authority funding.
The consultation runs until Sunday 15 November. To take part, visit www.letstalkcountydurham.co.uk, where you can also register to attend an online information event. Paper copies of the survey can be requested at any of our libraries or by emailing [email protected].
