Sandwell Council Budget Consultation 2023
Sandwell Council wants to hear residents’ views about the services that are most important to them, and where they should prioritise spending.
In last year’s budget consultation residents said their preferred way for the council to achieve the required savings was to rationalise its buildings and assets, the council took this on board and set a target saving in 2023/24 to look at ways it could reduce the running costs of the buildings that it currently operates from. This includes sharing space with partners to generate more income and looking at running services from fewer buildings, especially where there are multiple buildings close together.
The Council is facing similar pressure to residents from inflation and rising costs. The cost-of-living crisis is also creating more demand for some council services. This means that difficult decisions need to be made when the Council sets its budget.
Sandwell Council has identified and is delivering savings of over £30m in the last two years and the current Medium Term Financial Plan shows that further savings of around £8m will be needed for next year.
The Council spends around £318m on its day-to-day services, such as refuse collections, street cleansing, providing libraries and leisure centres and adult and children’s social care services. Sandwell must meet all its legal requirements but can make choices in how it delivers some of these services.
To this end, the council is running a survey of residents’ priorities. The views given in this survey will inform the council’s budget setting process for 2024/25.
Sandwell Council – Budget Consultation 2023
The survey closes on Friday, 28th July 2023.