Bradford Council’s proposed budget for 2026/27 will be presented to the council’s Executive on 5 March and once again the Council will be granted special borrowing permission from the Government to avoid a bankruptcy risk.
After being presented to the Executive, the budget will then go to full council for approval on 10 March.
The budget sets out savings proposals for 2026/27 totalling £60.6m, which are made up of prevention and demand reduction, increases in fees and charges, and improvements in productivity and efficiency. Savings are in line with the medium term financial strategy which is seeing the council return to financial sustainability earlier than initially planned.
As reported in January the Local Government Provisional Financial Settlement has seen Bradford’s core spending power increase by 47% from 24/25 to 28/29. This means that next year, 2026/27, will be the final year of exceptional financial support that Bradford needs from Government to reach financial stability, with the overall total being reduced from £570m to £395m. This would reduce the subsequent borrowing costs by an estimated £325m over 20 years.
£78m of Exceptional Financial Support will be required for 2026-27 to keep vital services running, and the Council now has a ‘minded to’ approval letter from the Government for this amount.
There is a proposed Council Tax increase of 2.99% plus a 2% Social Care precept in 2026/27. This would produce a Band D rate of £1,965.28 for 2026/27 (excluding any precepts), an increase of £93.40 a year or £1.80 a week from 2025/26. A Band A property would see an increase of £62.28 a year or £1.20 a week
Executive will also be asked to recommend to full Council proposals for a new Council Tax Reduction scheme. This means that the maximum Council Tax Reduction award will increase for those of working age from 70% of a Band A property charge to 72.5% of a Band A property charge.
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford Council said:
“We’ve made good progress with the council’s finances. Like councils everywhere, we’ve had to make difficult decisions but this, combined with the local government settlement, will help us to deliver the district’s priorities and achieve financial stability two years earlier than planned but it won’t resolve the many years of underfunding overnight.
“The savings that we are proposing to make are from new ways of working and transforming services so that we can keep the vital services running for our residents. We’re focussed on improving efficiency, innovating and transforming services, which means we are delivering better services for less money.
“The fact that we are delivering on our financial plan, combined with the fairer funding deal from the Labour government, means we can now start to strengthen those services that were constrained during the long austerity years which hit our district hard. Our proposed budget starts to build back frontline services, strengthen enforcement against those who don’t play by the rules and we are also investing more in jobs and skills giving opportunities for people to get a better future for themselves and their families.
“We also want to ensure that our most vulnerable get the support they need. We have looked to update the Council Tax Reduction Scheme to reflect this.
“64% of council spending goes on providing adult and children’s services. These are essential statutory services which many people rely on. We must continue to deliver these vital services whilst ensuring the council’s finances are sustainable.”
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