General Fund budget consultation for 2025/26

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 2025/26 in February 2025 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 2025/26

Coping with ever-rocketing external costs and increasing demands for council services are at the heart of our budget plans for 2025/2026.

It contains various proposals:

• the introduction of a cultural grant pot, starting at £15,000 for 25/26 and then rising to £30,000 per year from then on, to support more events and festivals
• freezing parking charges for more than 4,000 parking spaces in council-owned car parks including Park and Ride, reducing the cost of parking at the Riverside complex by 37% and reversing last year’s increase in School Lane, Herne
• the introduction of an annual Park and Ride permit for £50 per month or £600 per year saving motorists money
• the introduction of a Park and Ride corporate account allowing businesses to encourage their staff to park for just £2.50 per day including free parking at the weekend
• to convert 20 of Canenco’s larger diesel refuse collection vehicles to run on hydrogenated vegetable oil to help cut emissions and help the environment, at a cost of approximately £20,000 a year
• saving £58,000 by reducing the number of times the grass is cut in amenity sites, such as parks and playing fields, from 18 times a year to 10 times a year

For fees and charges for 2025/26, most are proposed to rise by 3%, with a small number of exceptions:

• a 20% increase for developers seeking what is known as pre-app advice before putting in a planning application
• a 5% increase for beach hut owners except for those at East Cliff which will be reduced by 14%
• a 5% increase for people using the council’s slipways for launching jet skis etc

Proposed council tax levels

Although we collect the council tax you pay, it is split between us, Kent County Council, the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner who pays for Kent Police and the Kent Fire and Rescue Service.

Every year each of these organisations has to decide how much to increase its share of the council tax you pay.

For 2025/26, we are proposing a 3% increase, which means people living in an average Band D property will pay an extra 14p per week for Canterbury City Council services.

You can view the current year’s council tax levels to see how much you are paying to the four organisations at the moment.

More information

You can see full details of all the proposals for 2025/26 and the overall financial position in the following documents:

• Financial outlook and draft budget – Cabinet report
• Summary draft budget
• Detailed draft budget
• Draft capital programme
• Risks for 2025/26 budget
• Draft fees and charges for 2025/26

Have your say

We would like to know what you think about the budget proposals for 2025/26.

Give us your views by completing our questionnaire by 5pm on Monday 6 January 2025.

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

Paper copies of the questionnaire are available on request. If you need a paper copy, please contact Victoria Asimaki, Principal Policy Officer (Engagement) at consultations@canterbury.gov.uk.

If you would like to see what questions you will be asked before you start filling in the survey, you can see a list of the questions.

All comments will be taken into account when councillors meet to set the budget in early 2025.

Published: 11 November 2024