Cabinet considers budget plan
News release issued:
Car parking charges may be frozen and additional funding allocated for litter picking and tackling illegal parking in the Wyre Forest district. These are among the budget proposals being considered by Wyre Forest District Council’s cabinet.
The budget plans are being discussed by the Cabinet next week (Tuesday 11 November). They are also considering investing in more resources to tackle environmental issues like flytipping and dog fouling.
The Cabinet will be considering spending priorities for the draft Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2026-2029. The budget proposals are to help the authority deliver its ambitions which are ‘economic growth and regeneration’, ‘a clean, safe and green district’ and ‘securing financial sustainability for services that local communities value.’
The proposals also include increasing the District Council’s portion of Council Tax by three per cent. This would mean an additional £7.51 for the year or 14p a week for Band D properties. The majority of householders in the district would pay less than this because almost three quarters of homes in Wyre Forest are in Bands A to C.
Councillor David Ross, Wyre Forest District Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for Finance and Capital Portfolio said:
“We have a legal requirement to balance the council’s budget each year and the pressures on us to deliver services are growing. As part of the medium term financial strategy, we are focussing on finding savings and efficiencies. We plan to carry out more reviews of how services are delivered and procured. We will not get the full picture about our 2026-27 funding from Government until the settlement is announced in December.”
Councillor Marcus Hart, Leader of Wyre Forest District Council said:
“We have made excellent progress with our corporate plan priorities and despite the funding pressure we are still proposing to invest to meet our aims. We are considering actions like freezing parking charges to support our town centres, local businesses, and the residents who depend on these facilities. We are also looking at providing additional funding for litter picking and tackling flytipping and supporting cultural events – things residents have told us are important to them. We would like residents to take part in our consultation to help shape the proposals further.”
The meeting starts at 6pm on Tuesday 11 November and will be available to watch on the Council’s website.
A public consultation on the Cabinet’s spending proposals is due to be launched later in the month and run for six weeks. It will be available from the Council's consultations webpage.