Our budget 2026-30

Background

Every year in February, we approve a rolling four-year budget plan, including our Council Tax level for the next year. Ahead of that, we publish draft proposals in December for our residents to read and comment on. This feedback helps to inform our final decisions.

District councils, police, fire and parish and town councils all make up portions of residents’ total Council Tax bills.

Our budget

Our yearly core budget is £660m - or £1.3bn including all grants and income that relate to specific services.

The county council is one of the biggest organisations in Leicestershire, spending more than £20m every week on crucial services for our residents.

Where we get our funding from

The council’s biggest funding source is Council Tax - the next biggest portion is Government grants, some of which can only be spent on specific projects.

The chart shows that the council gets most of its funding from Council Tax and the second biggest source in income is grants for specific projects.

Our budget breakdown

Around three-quarters of our budget is spent on social care and supporting vulnerable people.

The chart shows where the council spends its money: it breaks down the council's £1.3bn gross spend and shows most money is spent on adult social care, children's social care and children's services and special educational needs and disabilities.

Challenges

Uncertainty around Government funding and relentless growth in demand for services is dominating our budget proposals for 2026-30.

Our four-year proposals earmark £131m extra for social care - 20 percent more than previous forecasts, to manage rising demand for support for vulnerable people. Over the last 12 months, demand for children needing costly residential provision has increased by 28 percent.

Savings plan

We know that action is needed to bridge a budget gap, forecast to exceed £100m by 2030. We’re carrying out an efficiency review to help identify opportunities to close the gap and these proposals include some early ideas to reduce costs.

Our proposals

At a glance:

• A budget gap of over £100m by 2029/30
• £131m more to support vulnerable people - in response to huge increase in demand
• £63m to cover National Living Wage and inflation increases
• £45m of savings - plus early opportunities identified in our efficiency review
• A £456m four-year capital pot - to pay for improving roads, providing social care accommodation and new school places needed to support new housing.

Council Tax

Next year’s proposals show the extra income that would be raised by a 2.99 percent Council Tax rise. The final level won’t be agreed until February, when we’ll know the level of Government funding.

The table show the financial impact of different Council Tax increases, both for our budget and for households.

The chart shows a comparison of different levels of Council Tax increases. Zero per cent would see no change to bills and mean that the council still needs to find £162m of savings by 2030. Three per cent would increase bills by 97p a week and mean that the council still needs to find £106m of savings by 2030. Five per cent would increase bills by £1.62p a week and mean that the council still needs to find £65m of savings by 2030. 

The consultation only asks for views on the Council Tax change for next year. The level decided upon will influence bills and services in future years.

Our consultation and next steps

This is your chance to shape the budget - and influence services which impact you and your family.

Following the consultation, comments will help shape final proposals. The full council will agree its budget on 18 February 2026.

If you want a hard copy of this survey, please email CRBusinessServices@leics.gov.uk

Watch our video: