West Midlands councils to face a £3.6m rise for transport costs - here's why

Members of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Board will meet on Friday (February 7) to discuss the final 2025/26 budget proposals covering the Transport Levy, Mayor’s office and members fees.

And they are expected to approve a plan which includes raising the transport levy which all seven member councils contribute too, by a total of £3.6 million from £119.35 million to £122.94 million.

A report to the board said the increase “seeks to address some of the pressures within transport” caused by issues such as inflation, loss of funding and decisions not to increase it previously.

Other aspects of this budget will see no extra burden on residents’ council tax bills as Mayor Richard Parker confirms there will be no additional precept.

The fees that constituent and non-constituent local authority members pay into the WMCA will also be kept at the existing levels.

And the plans will see a £40,000 increase in the Mayoral office budget due to staffing costs, although this is five per cent lower than previously anticipated.

Around 76 per cent of money raised from the Transport Levy is used to pay for the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme, local policies that provide free or half-priced bus, train and tram travel for those who qualify, as well as funding subsidised bus services and accessible transport.

Legislation allows WMCA to raise money for transport initiatives through a levy on Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton councils.

If approved, Birmingham will go from paying £46.78 million to £48.09 million in 2025/26, Coventry will go from £14.37 million to £14.88 million, Dudley will go from £13.13 million to £13.47 million, Sandwell from £13.91million to £14.33 million, Solihull from £8.8 million to £9.02 million, Walsall from £11.56 million to £11.91 million and Wolverhampton from £10.81 million to £11.23 million.

The report said: “The Transport Levy remains an important funding source for the transport function, providing resources for developing and maintaining transport infrastructure and supporting regional economic growth and connectivity.

“A lower level of funding would limit the amount of support the WMCA could provide to the transport network. This would likely have negative impacts for the West Midlands region.

“The proposals presented in this report present a fair funding strategy for transport to address the current funding gaps and historic underfunding and to support WMCA operations.”