Five things getting unexpected council cash in Dudley budget

The authority has a legal duty to set a balanced budget for the next financial year and the borough’s minority Conservative administration will need to gain support from other councillors to win a vote on their spending plans.

Last year the Liberal Democrats voted with the Tories to pass a tough budget which included tens of millions of pounds in savings to stave off effective bankruptcy.

The council’s leaders say the savings, along with a major restructure of senior council officers, have delivered an improvement far quicker than they expected which means there is cash in the pot for extra spending.

In a report on the proposed budget, Lisa Kitto, Dudley’s interim director of finance, said: “The council has responded well to the financial challenges faced in previous financial years and is setting off with a platform of higher than anticipated reserves and a clear view and vision of what transformation is needed.

“This coupled with a strong performance in the delivery of challenging savings targets in 2025/26 places the council in a more positive financial position than in previous years.”

The budget to be presented at a full council meeting on February 23 will include five plans for extra spending which would have looked unlikely 12 months ago.

The biggest extra amount is £900,000 to be spent over the next three years on household waste recycling centre provision, which is expected to mean the return of pop-up recycling centres in the north of the borough.

The council is also allowing £480,000 for lost income from bringing back two-hours free parking on its car parks which it says will support borough business.

An extra £268,000 is being provided to support enhanced street cleaning across the borough.

A range of new safety initiatives around schools will be paid for with an additional £150,000 of taxpayers cash while a one-off £100,000 will be provided to support the continuation of what the budget report calls ‘key civic events’.