A sensible budget for a brighter future
I am proud to present this Cabinet’s Consultation Budget for 2026/7-2028/9. It is a budget that is safe, fit for purpose, and decent: a Calderdale Budget. The proposals in these documents meet our duty to set a balanced Revenue Budget for 2026/7. In addition, we have provided an indicative Budget for the following two years.
This would not be possible without the Labour Government's welcome new approach to Local Government funding as set out in the attached papers. This government has implemented, at last, a Fair Funding Review, which rebalances funding towards councils with high levels of deprivation and compensates councils which have low Council Tax Bandings and therefore less opportunity to generate income. Calderdale Council fits both of those categories and so its budget will be rebalanced over the next three years.
Of course, in its first eighteen months the new government has still not completely fixed local government finance, and the local government settlement is less still than we would like, but with the Fair Funding Review the Labour Government is beginning to repair a decade of unfair funding. We are also delighted to have the news that our council will now have more certainty about how much funding it will have from central government because, it’s the first three-year settlement for local government for a decade. This will provide more stability for local government finances and enable us to do more robust long-term planning.
This new settlement is very welcome after many years of austerity. The targeting of local government for significant cuts by firstly the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition, and then by the following years of Conservative Government had forced Calderdale Council alongside other councils to find continued cuts and savings over that time.
Councils across the country have been facing extreme financial difficulties, with more councils than ever accessing Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from Government to avoid running out of cash. EFS means getting permission to borrow for day-to-day spending. Calderdale Council does not want to be in that position and aims to maintain its reputation for robust financial management. Therefore, we are committed to continuous review of our financial position throughout the next year, to ensure we achieve financial sustainability amidst this period of public finance uncertainty. Annexed to these Budget Papers therefore is a Finance Management, Improvement and Development Plan based upon an independent report produced by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, CIPFA. This report was commissioned by the Council as part of our continuing drive for improvement and openness to constructive advice. Work on implementing its recommendations is already underway.
Building back the foundations for strong local government will take time and you will see that the challenge of balancing the Budget in following years still remains, with council tax rises likely to still be needed in the short term. As well as balancing the books for this year, we are also working as prudently and realistically as we can to ensure that our finances are on as strong a footing as possible for the future. We will have to raise Council Tax by the maximum allowable without a referendum (4.99%) as Government has based overall funding levels on the expectation that councils will do this.
Our balanced budget will therefore require a continuation of the hard work being done to control costs and re-shape services if we are to meet the investment aspirations set out in these documents.
Before detailing some of the highlights I would also like to thank our Director and Resources and Transformation, Becky McIntyre, the Finance Team, and the staff in Directorates who have worked so hard to achieve so many of our goals without risking the long-term sustainability of the Council.
Looking to the future
This is our Labour Budget, which is putting into effect our published priorities to reduce inequalities, create thriving towns and places, take positive steps on climate action and ensure we remain a sustainable and effective Council, as well as looking to the future with our Vision 34. It is a budget that is focused on keeping people safe, protecting the most vulnerable, investing in Calderdale’s towns and places and moving to a more sustainable financial position in the future. But it is more than that, it is a budget that, for the first time in many years, begins to provide hope again that we can really make Calderdale a better place.
We care about vulnerable children and adults and there is within the budget strong, realistic provision for the growth of demand led services such as Adult and Children's Social Care and Home to School Transport.
We give cautious welcome to the announcement from the Labour Government that Local Authority SEND costs will be taken over by central Government in the near future. The cost of giving our SEND children the right education has risen dramatically in recent years and continues to pose a real threat to our sustainability.
We are expanding our Learning Disability Team to better support adults with learning disabilities and investing in our Appointeeship and Guardianship Services to provide safe accountable, management of finances for those who can't manage themselves.
Among just some of our other revenue investments to highlight are:
- Keeping our residents and communities safe. Ensuring fire safety after the terrible Grenfell disaster. Investing in the Community Safety Team in order to better tackle the scourges of fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour.
- Helping our towns to thrive, ensuring events, lively markets and a strong cultural offer that keeps attracting tourists to spend money in our beautiful borough, as well as encouraging business.
- Tackling inequality by reducing temporary accommodation through increasing our capacity to commission better quality, more affordable, alternatives to Bed and Breakfasts – none of our children should be doing their homework on the floor of B &Bs.
Among just some of the capital investments to highlight are:
- A major investment in our Highways by investing in larger scale resurfacing of our roads with more sustainable repairs, borrowing over 3 years – moving from short-term pothole fixing to longer-term solutions.
- Bringing over 200 extra SEND school places into our borough, through the establishment of a new SEND school and new places in our existing schools.
- Investing in Regeneration and Employment through the planned Clifton Enterprise Zone site in Brighouse.
- A pipeline of additional capital projects to be financed by borrowing or external monies in the future, being brought forward for future prioritisation through business cases – we already have a good track record of bidding for and drawing down extra funds from government. Those familiar with our finances will know that borrowing funds a small proportion of our overall capital spend, and we currently have low levels of borrowing.
On the savings side this budget has kept savings to a minimum where possible and focussed on efficiencies through digital innovation, transforming and modernising our ways of working, as well as keeping rigorous control of costs and spend. That also includes investment in some services to generate more income, updating fees where appropriate. And we will be doing our bit to save paper as well as money by moving to e-billing and email correspondence for Council Tax, where possible. This is a year in which we will put in place key efficiency changes which are aimed at doing things differently in order to pay dividends in future years.
And of course, a sustainable Council requires adequate reserves. We have followed the advice of our Director of Resources and started replenishing our Reserves this year. We aim to continue to do so in the following two years.
The ‘Summaries of Services Provided’ in the budget documents demonstrates the sheer range of responsibilities and activities carried out by Calderdale Council. Many of these are not statutory but help to make all our lives better, create hope, provide opportunities, and build a sense of aspiration and pride for our residents and our businesses.
In conclusion, our Consultation Budget is full of hope and ambition underpinned by prudence and a commitment to good financial management. Others may wish to talk down the borough, its people, and its businesses. We celebrate them, we are proud of them, and we commend our Budget which supports growth and prosperity for all.
Councillor Jane Scullion – Leader of the Council
8th December 2025
Seeking your views
The Cabinet meeting on Monday 8th December 2025 begins a period of consultation on the draft budget for 2026/27 to 2028/29. We encourage you to take part in the consultation. Feedback forms can also be found at our libraries.
The online consultation is live from 9th December until Midnight on 30th January 2026. All responses will be considered before recommendations are made by Cabinet on Monday 9th February 2026. Final decisions on the budget will then be taken at the Annual Budget Council meeting on Monday 23rd February 2026.
Please complete our online survey:
Budget consultation survey 2026/27
- Open date: Tuesday 9th December 2025 (9am).
- Close date: Friday 30th January 2026 (midnight).
You can also download and complete the Budget consultation feedback form:
Or send comments and feedback directly to: budget@calderdale.gov.uk
Please return the feedback form to:
- Email to: budget@calderdale.gov.uk.
- Post to: FREEPOST RUCH-EHHKZSCL, Budget consultation, Consultation Officer, Town Hall, Halifax, HX1 1UJ
Cabinet draft budget
Cabinet is planning to provide additional investment to restore the underlying base budget and has carefully considered growth in priority areas.
In order to balance the Council’s budget next year this can be achieved with the following measures.
- In line with the local government core spending power assumptions, it is proposed that general Council Tax will be increased by 2.99%, in line with the maximum allowable under the referendum limit. The Adult Social Care precept will also be increased by 2%.
- Making savings by reducing administrative costs, setting vacancy management targets, increasing income, and making changes to the way some services are delivered so they are more efficient and productive, to bring the net operating costs in line with spending power.
To improve financial resilience the draft budget provides for increasing General Fund Reserves by £5m by the end of 2028/29 to £12.3m.