General Fund budget consultation for 2026/27

Every year, the council has to set a balanced budget to make sure the money we spend delivering services is in line with the money we have available.

We will set our budget for 2026/27 in February 2026 and are asking for your views on how we are proposing to balance the books.

What does Canterbury City Council do?

Canterbury City Council delivers a wide range of services, including:

• waste and recycling collection
• street cleaning
• dealing with littering and fly tipping
• car parks
• public toilets
• dealing with planning applications
• running museums
• leisure centres and swimming pools
• social housing
• providing support for homeless people

Other services such as roadworks, social care, schools and libraries are delivered by Kent County Council.

Our draft budget for 2026/27

Proposals in the capital programme – the money used to invest in council assets over the long term – include:

• an initial £500,000 to work up a detailed plan for a multistorey car park at the Wincheap Park and Ride site. This is an extra option for the delivery of increased parking capacity with capital sums earmarked for future years should a decision be made to progress it
• £150,000 to improve the inclusive play offer at Herne Bay Memorial Park
• £136,000 to improve the Castle Street multistorey car park
• £10,000 for on-street recycling bins in Whitstable Harbour and the seafront in Herne Bay

When it comes to day-to-day or revenue spending, the draft budget includes:

• £115,000 as a dedicated budget to clean and maintain the council’s car parks
• £92,000 to care for and maintain the various projects paid for by the government’s Levelling Up Fund including looking after newly-planted trees
• £10,000 for a district-wide tree planting programme paying for 3,000 new trees
• £7,500 to start planting of the Canterbury Hedge Project running between Thanet and Swale

To deal with the district’s waste, it is proposed to spend:

• £345,000 to carry out extensive maintenance on the council’s hardworking refuse vehicles which are used by its contractor Canenco
• £292,000 for Canenco to collect food waste from communal properties after the government changed the law to make it a requirement
• £42,000 for Canenco to clean the slip roads off the A2 and Thanet Way

The number of garden waste collections enjoyed by subscribers is set to increase from 23 to 24 leaving only the Christmas break when the service stops.

Garden waste charges are planned to increase from £58.92 to £65 for each bin emptied but the cost of new or replacement green waste bins is proposed to fall.

The cost of bulky waste collections is proposed to be cut to remove the temptation for residents to use cowboys who then fly tip what they collect, adding to the bill of the council taxpayer.

The level of the decrease will be decided once residents are asked what measures they think will encourage more use of licensed bulky waste operators, like Canenco, over illegal operators who then fly tip on our roads and open spaces.

Finally, the draft budget also includes £45,000 to rebuild the council’s economic development and local economy function to help implement the results of its town centre strategies work and help create jobs.

Other pressures on the budget include:

• inflation on the goods and services we buy in to deliver services
• increasing costs of temporary accommodation on Housing Benefit payments
• government IT security requirements to better protect residents and their data

To pay for the increases, it is proposed to:

• increase Council Tax by 2.97% which represents 14p per week for an average Band D property – Canterbury City Council only accounts for around 11% of a resident’s total bill
• use increased rental income from a good commercial performance at the Whitefriars shopping centre and the Riverside scheme
• use increased parking charges by 10p in Band 1 car parks and increase the cost of parking permits by inflation at 4%

When it comes to fees and charges, all are proposed to increase by inflation except:

• those set by the government
• museum admission charges, taxi and private hire vehicle licences, and boats and punts licences which will be frozen
• fisherman dues, fuel and storage at Whitstable Harbour which will only increase by 2%
• the cost of internments at our cemeteries which will increase to recover the council’s costs

More information

Financial outlook and draft budget 2026/27 – Cabinet report
Summary draft budget
Detail draft budget
Capital plan
Risks and assumptions budget
Fees and charges

Have your say

Read the supporting information and give us your views by completing our questionnaire by 9am on Tuesday 6 January 2026.

Alternatively, you can email your comments to consultations@canterbury.gov.uk or write to Policy Team, Canterbury City Council, 14 Rose Lane, Canterbury, CT1 2UR.

Paper copies of the questionnaire are available on request. If you would like a copy, please email consultations@canterbury.gov.uk.

You can also see the list of questions before you start.

Published: 6 November 2025