Have your say: Residents asked to give views on the Council's budget
Residents across the Stockton-on-Tees Borough are being urged to fill in a survey to share their views on where the Council's budget should be prioritised.
The request for views comes after the Council's Deputy Leader warned the authority was facing "unprecedented" challenges in order to address an anticipated £11.5 million budget gap.
A recent Cabinet meeting heard demand for services is continuing to grow, whilst showing no signs of slowing down.
And this rise in demand and costs is particularly felt in adults and children's social care services.
The Let's Talk Money survey is focusing on the Council's revenue budget and day-to-day expenditure for the delivery of essential services.
Capital budgets which fund long-term regeneration and infrastructure projects do not form part of the consultation. This is because many grants are "ringfenced", which means that they can only be used for a specific purpose, such as for the Stockton Waterfront project.
The Council's Deputy Leader, Councillor Paul Rowling, said: "We know there will be some very difficult decisions when it comes to setting the budget for 2026 to 2027, so we want to talk to our communities and residents to hear your views on the choices which need to be made.
"Ultimately, the money we spend on supporting our communities must balance with the income we receive from Council Tax, Business Rates, Government grants, and income from fees and charges for our services.
"We often get questions from residents on how money is spent and this information is included in a dedicated webpage, which also has details on the Council's income streams.
"You may be surprised to hear that over 75 per cent of the Council's funding is spent providing care and support to children and adults through services like social care, public health, home to school transport and educational support to those with Special Educational Needs and disabilities.
"And these services are seeing huge rises in costs. For instance, the average cost of an external residential placement for a child has risen by 70 per cent since 2021 to 2022.
"There are some services we are required to provide by law, called statutory services. Other services we have more flexibility over and these are known as discretionary services, which is what we are keen to hear residents' views on.
"In the survey you'll be asked to tell us how you feel about reductions in spending as well as your opinions on fee income from discretionary services and Council Tax.
"We want to hear as many views as possible, so I would urge you to fill in the survey if you are able to. If you can't fill out a survey online then paper copies will be available around the Borough's libraries, as well as at Family Hubs and 'Warm Welcome' sessions across the area.
"Your answers to the survey will help us inform next year's annual budget report that will be considered by the Council's Cabinet and Council in February 2026.
"Of course, there's work already underway across the organisation and through the Council's Powering our Future programme we've already narrowed the budget gap to £11.5m in 2026 to 2027 by identified savings of £5.8 million."
"But given the size of the projected budget gap, we know that this work needs to be accelerated and your views can help us ensure this is possible."
The survey has opened today (December 15) and is running until Sunday, January 18.
To have your say, you can fill out the survey on the dedicated webpage.
There will be face to face sessions for anyone who needs help accessing the online survey and paper copies of the consultation available too. Look out for more details in the coming weeks.
