Maximum tax and rent hikes planned for next Dudley Council budget

Ahead of a series of scrutiny meetings starting on January 20, the proposed financial plan for 2025/26 has been published.

The authority has revealed a raft of proposals which include increases in tax, rents and fees plus reductions in staffing and selling off council-owned assets as part of its medium-term financial strategy .

Dudley’s interim finance director, Brendan Arnold, said: “In balancing budgets in previous years, the council has usually used significant contributions from reserves to balance its revenue budget shortfalls and therefore to support service delivery in a way that is unsustainable.”

Some areas of council spending are ring-fenced but unprotected spending in the general fund for the next financial year is predicted to be £366.6 million.

Dudley’s council tax payers will be asked to pay a full five per cent extra, the maximum allowed without a referendum, making the bill for an average Band D property £1,728.88.

Council tenants will also be paying more if the budget is approved, the increase would also be the maximum allowed by law at 2.7 per cent which would push the weekly bill up by an average of £2.60 to £99.08.

The authority says its rents would still be some of the most affordable in the borough. This year the average monthly council rent is £418, while in the private sector it is £766.

Dudley Council’s leader, Councillor Patrick Harley, said: “We have not taken a lot of these decisions lightly, there are things in the budget a lot of people will applaud us for doing and things individuals will think ‘I don’t like that because it affects me personally’ and I get that.

“We are doing it so that we put the council’s finances on an even keel for the first time in the 20 years I have been on the council.

“This will be the first time we balance the books for the first time in five consecutive years.”

After consultation Dudley will finalise its budget at a full meeting of the council on February 24.