Full Council agrees 2025-26 Budget

Full Council met to set its budget for 2025-26 on Thursday, 6 March.

Bradford Council’s budget report makes it clear that the council continues to face severe financial challenge as a result of the previous Government’s funding cuts, low council tax base and the rising costs of children's and adult social care.

While Government recognises the fragility of local government finances nationally and is bringing forward welcome plans to address this, there is still a need for significant action at local level.

The Council is progressing with its five-year plan to return to financial sustainability with savings of £42.8m being brought forward for the coming year. Included with this, as well as finding more efficient ways of working, is the one-off increase in Council tax of 9.99%, which will help avoid additional borrowing costs of £111m over the next 20 years.

Government gave permission for the rise because Bradford Council has been one of the hardest hit by the years of austerity and the least able to recover from this position because of its comparatively very low council tax.

The Council will still need to make savings of £50 million per year for the following four years and continue to work closely with partners including the Bradford Children and Families Trust.

Support for people struggling

Support is already in place to help residents who struggle financially to pay their council tax through the Council Tax Reduction programme.

The Council will also set up a hardship fund to help the most vulnerable households. A £1.2M hardship fund has been established to ease the impact of the rise for those of working age on low incomes. Eligible households will get a up to one-off £30 award credited to the council tax account.

To receive this support, households must be in receipt of Council Tax Reduction and be of working age as of March 31, 2025, for existing claimants. The funding is sufficient to cover all existing claimants.

No application is necessary to access the new hardship grant support. The award will be automatically applied to eligible households and will be reflected on their council tax bill, providing immediate relief for those on the lowest incomes.

For more information on the support available visit our benefits webpages.

How much will households have to pay?

Over 80% of properties in Bradford are below Band D (which is used for national comparisons)

41% of properties in Bradford district are in Band A and 21% are in Band B.

The table below shows the figures for the Bradford Council element only.

Band	A	B	C	D
Bradford 2024-25	£1,134.57	£1,323.67	£1,512.76	£1,701.86
Bradford 2025-26	£1,247.91	£1,455.90	£1,663.88	£1,871.88
Annual increase	£113.34	£132.23	£151.12	£170.02
Weekly increase	£2.18	£2.54	£2.91	£3.27

How does Bradford’s Council Tax compare to what other areas pay?

Bradford’s Council tax is relatively low compared to other councils locally and nationally, we are consistently among the lowest in West Yorkshire and ranked 30^th out of 36 metropolitan councils nationally in 2024-25.

Even with the 9.99% increase, Bradford will still be just below the average for West Yorkshire and Metropolitan councils nationally.

Nevertheless, we fully appreciate that any increase represents an additional cost to local household budgets.

Why are we doing this when residents are facing financial challenges?

Council services currently cost around £120m more each year than the Council can afford, which is unsustainable, so significant savings are needed to balance the budget.

Government recognises that Bradford Council has been one of the hardest hit by the years of austerity and the least able to recover from this position because of its comparatively very low council tax. This is why we are one of only six councils in the country which are being allowed to increase beyond 4.99%.

The 9.99% increase in Council Tax would reduce required borrowing costs by £70 million over the next five years, helping to protect services.

What is our collection rate for Council Tax like?

Bradford Council collected 94.2% of Council Tax in the 2023-24 tax year

The average collection rate for all Metropolitan Districts for the same 23/24 period is 93.59%

The average for the 5 West Yorkshire LA’s is 94.86%.

Collection of prior year’s outstanding amounts continues, and Bradford collect over 98% of each year’s Council Tax over time.

Will the council propose a further above average increase next year?

The “norm” over the last few years has become 4.99% council tax increase every year. We have made a commitment that this 9.99% is a one-off request for 2025-26 only.

We are getting more money from Government this year in our financial settlement, why are we still having to make these savings and decisions?

Additional funding was announced for local government, announced both at the recent Budget and in the Local Government settlement. Bradford Council received £38 million more than we anticipated.

This additional funding is very welcome and much needed. It is a significant step in the right direction, but this won’t solve the challenges local government faces overnight. Over the last 14 years £350 million was cut in Government grant to Bradford. At the same time we are still facing a huge strain and severe service pressures, and we will have to continue to make difficult decisions to ensure a stable financial future.

What we gain from the 2025-26 government settlement doesn’t solve the continuing escalating costs in adult and children’s social care. Even after we allow for the additional funding, we still have a budget gap and we still have to progress with our difficult and challenging proposed savings plans.

Why is the council putting up council tax and reducing spend when it has received £127m in Exceptional Financial Support from Government?

This is not a grant or money but permission to borrow and sell assets. Any use of the loan facility within this £127m has to be repaid with interest

What savings do we have to make?

We have already been working to address the financial challenge. To balance the budget, we have made £48.6m of revenue savings in 2024/25 and £42.8m of revenue savings in 2025-26, approved as part of the budget.

In the coming year, and the years beyond, we will need to find more savings. We must do this while maintaining the essential services that communities rely on.

It is currently forecast that it will take at least another 5 years (to 2029-30) for the Council to become financially sustainable again. This will require the Council to deliver circa £50m of additional savings each year over that period.