Crawley Borough Council has published its plans to set a balanced budget for 2025/26.
A meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday evening approved the income and spending plan. The draft budget will now be considered by Full Council on 26 February.
The council will raise its share of council tax by 2.99 per cent meaning that for a band D property, its annual council tax will rise by £6.94 from £232.10 to £239.04.
The council has faced challenging circumstances with soaring costs for temporary accommodation. It now spends £2 out of every £3 it collects in council tax providing accommodation to support Crawley residents.
For well over a decade, Crawley has been disproportionally affected by reductions in government funding for local authorities. That, combined with the vast increase in costs for temporary accommodation, has meant that the council has had to find savings of around £2.4million in this year’s budget.
A public consultation was held over a four-week period for residents to share their views with the council on their priorities for the year ahead.
We have had to make some very difficult decisions in order to set a balanced budget this year and we know that some of them will have an impact on the services that we offer. We have prioritised ways to generate income through our commercial buildings and assets and increased the deterrent for those who choose to litter or fly-tip. Wherever possible we have protected services for vulnerable people and delivered on what we heard in the consultation. We have protected the services that our residents valued, such as public protection and keeping Crawley looking the way we expect. The costs of temporary accommodation have put significant pressures on our budgets, but wherever possible we have worked hard to keep people in their own homes. These are Crawley people and we have a legal duty to provide assistance should they become homeless. We will continue to lobby the Government to get what we consider is a fair deal for Crawley.
Councillor Michael Jones, Leader Crawley Borough Council