The council needs to make savings of at least £15.5m in 2027/28, rising to £22m in 2028/29, as well as achieving all existing savings, to manage cuts to its funding announced by the government earlier this year.  

A balanced budget for 2026/27 was set in February 2026 with warnings that future years would become more difficult because of government decisions to change formulas governing the distribution of funding – with some councils receiving more and others less.

However more savings will be required as inflation in the wider economy or demand for the council’s services increases the council’s costs beyond existing the assumptions built into the budget. The cabinet will receive a report at its meeting on Tuesday, 14 July detailing these risks and other updates known at this stage.

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Transformation, said: “The government has already cut Oxfordshire’s grants. However like any responsible organisation we forward plan and anticipate risks which may emerge. There are a number of these which could exacerbate an already difficult situation that is not of our making locally.

“The county council has a long track record of responsible financial management. We have consistently set aside contingency budgets to deal with uncertainty about demand and other risks. 

“We know there are risks in the wider economy – everybody knows from their own household budgets or from running a business that inflation remains a persistent problem in the economy. When prices keep rising this also increases the cost of the council’s services.

“As we look towards setting our budget for 2027/28 we are already planning carefully and looking at options to reduce expenditure and make savings. We must balance budgets for services that the council is responsible for to the funding that we expect to be available. People will hear more detail about this in autumn and winter. We will protect frontline services as far as we can.

“We recognise that there are areas of the country with higher levels of deprivation than our own, and it is right that the people in those places receive the support that they need. However, it is disappointing that councils like Oxfordshire will see real terms reductions in grant funding as a result and it leaves us more exposed when extra pressures arise.

“The government also assumes that we would set Council Tax rises at 4.99 per cent each year giving us no real flexibility locally.”

What are the risks being presented to cabinet?

• Demand for children’s social care continues to rise along with the cost of placements driven by a lack of capacity in the market nationally. The government has indicated it will take action to manage excessive profits by children’s social care providers, but it is unclear how this will be implemented.
• National changes are planned to the Better Care Fund, which was introduced in 2013 to enhance the integration of NHS and council social care services across the country. There is potential for the council to experience lower funding as a result of changes.
• The government is currently planning a fair pay agreement in adult social care to address national recruitment and retention issues. This will be implemented in 2028. The implementation of this represents an as yet unquantified costs risk for adult social care services.
• Integrated Care Boards across the country are operating under significant financial pressure. This increases the potential for unfunded pressures emerging which could impact adult social care services because a number of vital services are jointly funded by local authorities and the NHS.
• The impact of continued inflationary pressures in the UK economy on council services and on the setting of the National Living Wage – which remains unknown.

A balanced budget for 2026/27 was set in February 2026 with warnings that future years would become more difficult because of government decisions to change formulas governing the distribution of funding – with some councils receiving more and others less.

More savings will be required if inflation in the wider economy or demand for the council’s services increases the council’s costs beyond existing assumptions built into the budget.

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Transformation, said: “The situation we are in is not of our making locally. The county council has a long track record of responsible financial management. We have consistently set aside contingency budgets to deal with uncertainty about demand and other risks. 

“Our year end position for 2025/26 shows the value of this approach as we have been able to balance our budget and manage the pressures being experienced in our services.

“However, budget changes needed to balance the budget for 2026/27 and future reductions to our funding mean we will not have this level of flexibility again. We also know there are risks in the wider economy – everybody knows from their own household budgets or from running a business that inflation remains a persistent problem in the economy. When prices keep rising this also increases the cost of the council’s services.

“Looking towards setting our budget for 2027/28 we are going to need to plan ahead and look at options to reduce expenditure and make savings so we can balance budgets for services that the council is responsible for to the funding that we expect to be available. People will hear more detail about this in autumn and winter. We will protect frontline services as far as we can.

“We recognise that there are areas of the country with higher levels of deprivation than our own, and it is right that the people in those places receive the support that they need. However, it is disappointing that councils like Oxfordshire will see real terms reductions in grant funding as a result and it leaves us more exposed when extra pressures arise.

“The government also assumes that we would set Council Tax rises at 4.99 per cent each year giving us no real flexibility locally.”

The council’s cabinet will receive a report later this month detailing how service pressures of close to £10m have been managed in 2025/26. In July, the cabinet will be presented with a report setting the scene for the 2027/28 budget process. Updates on the forecast position for 2026/27 will be shared with cabinet throughout the financial year.

Her comments came at the budget-setting meeting of the council on Tuesday, 10 February. The council has been able to deal with a budget shortfall of £5.4m while still investing extra in adult social care (£14m), children’s services (£19m), highways, libraries and other services.

However, the authority already knows that it will need to find further savings of at least £15.5m from 2027/28.

The government will cut grant funding by £27.2m by 2028/29 and assumed the council will make up most of the difference with maximum council tax rises. The effect of this is that the county council will have to put up council tax by 4.99% each year only to see a lot of this money immediately being subtracted by the government and sent elsewhere.

Cllr Leffman said in her speech at the meeting: “We recognise that there are areas of the country with higher levels of deprivation than our own, and it is right that the people in those places receive the support that they need, but this government has failed to recognise the pressures and challenges that we and other county councils face in delivering critical services across a wide rural area.

“In spite of the constraints, and because we have managed our finances very carefully over the past few years, we have not only been able to balance the budget for 2026/2027 but have included investments that will make a difference to the things which are of greatest importance to our residents.

“I am confident that with the investment that we are making in our highways network, with our surface dressing programme for example, along with the new Highways Asset Response Teams that have been out and about in Oxfordshire since the autumn, we will see a significant improvement in the forthcoming weeks and beyond.

“Flooding has become a regular event in many parts of the county thanks to climate change, and we have recognised the importance of tackling this. 

“The decision last year to clear all our gullies on an annual schedule has revealed that much of our drainage system is in urgent need of repair, following years of neglect.

“We therefore propose to allocate £2 million in our capital budget to repairing our drainage system, bringing the total to be spent on our drains and gullies in 2026/2027 to £3.2 million.

“Our library refurbishment programme will continue, with an investment of £550,000 in Didcot coming next, following successful refurbishments in Chinnor, Henley and most recently Witney, where 200 new registrations for library tickets were received in the week following its reopening.”

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “We face great pressure because of funding cuts and demand pressures, and there is still lots of uncertainty in areas like SEND provision. Money is being redistributed away from Oxfordshire and other areas on a large scale by the government.

“However, we are confident not only that we are setting an ambitious balanced budget for next year, delivering services to residents, but also that we are ready to face the more difficult years ahead.”

Note to editors

By 2028/29 there is a reduction of £24.1m in funding from central government compared to 2025/26. Within that there is an increase of £3.1m in funding for the Families First Partnership that the government will expect the council to use to fund new investment and activity in preventative services for children’s social care. Excluding that, the underlying reduction in grant funding is £27.2m

People in Oxfordshire are being urged to have their say as part of a statutory government consultation on the future of local government in the county.

The consultation launched today (Thursday 5 February) and will run until 23:59 Thursday 26 March.

There are three proposals being consulted on for Oxfordshire. Oxfordshire County Council is backing its One Oxfordshire proposal, which is for a single countywide unitary council – Oxfordshire Council. There are two other proposals – one proposing two unitary councils and the other three councils. Both of these include West Berkshire.

One Oxfordshire will create stronger, simpler services that are closer to communities, connected and cost effective.

It will bring all services together under one roof, protect high‑performing social care, simplify and improve services through better coordination and save £63 million every year. One Oxfordshire will give residents one front door to access services, stronger local decision‑making, and a unified voice that can drive investment, innovation and sustainable growth.

Councillor Liz Leffman, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: “The government’s call for local government reform is both timely and necessary. One Oxfordshire offers a once in a generation opportunity to build a stronger, fairer and more ambitious future for the county.

“It is the only proposal that fully meets government criteria with the scale, efficiency and resilience to save the most money and withstand future financial shocks; the stability to protect and improve critical services; and the simplicity residents want.

“It will bring together all council services across Oxfordshire to create a new single authority, Oxfordshire Council, with the strength and voice to activate exciting and enduring change.

“We will reduce duplication, protect our critical services and have the scale to focus and invest in prevention and early help, tackling inequalities and homelessness.

“By bringing together all the levers of local government into a single, resilient authority, we can unlock the full potential of our people and places, drive innovation and deliver the high quality services our communities deserve.

“We urge people to have their say and take this opportunity to support our positive vision for the future.”

One Oxfordshire will strengthen local democracy through robust neighbourhood governance with a stronger partnership with town and parish councils and a set of new area committees. Local voices will be heard, with clear accountability and a single set of councillors operating at the heart of their areas.

A single unitary council for Oxfordshire will not separate Oxfordshire’s residents, businesses and institutions from the county they are in or move boundaries from the places and communities they recognise.

Oxfordshire County Council already delivers services on a countywide footprint to over 750,000 residents, providing 85 per cent of local government services by expenditure in Oxfordshire. These include adult and children’s social care, some education services, public health, fire and rescue, libraries and museums, roads and transport, trading standards, waste disposal and recycling.

One single council for Oxfordshire will avoid splitting critical services up and means less disruption, including those delivered in partnership, such as health. It will also avoid the costly and risky separation of high-performing services, particularly in adult and children’s social care rated “good” by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission. We will protect and improve these critical services.

One Oxfordshire will streamline and coordinate strategic planning and housing across the whole of the county, delivering more homes in the right places and overcoming the failures of fragmented governance.

A single countywide unitary council simplifies services for residents, businesses and investors and makes them stronger with clear accountability – one set of councillors, one chief executive, one set of services, one senior management team, one set of buildings and one front door to access services. Money saved from creating simpler services can be reinvested into strengthening them.

One Oxfordshire offers the quickest, most cost effective and safest route to a safe, legal and confident new council, one that is ready to transform from day one.

What are the three options

1. A single unitary council for Oxfordshire – Oxfordshire Council. This is our preferred option.
2. Two unitary councils – Oxford and Shires Council and Ridgeway Council.
3. Three unitary councils – Greater Oxford Council, Northern Oxfordshire Council and Ridgeway Council. 

How to have your say

Visit oneoxfordshire.org.uk to find information on all three proposals and how to have your say.

A major change to the way the government distributes grant money to councils means it and many other local authorities will face real challenges from 2026/27 with more significant reductions then required in the following two years.

Although there will also be a significant number of investments in to budgets for adult social care (£14m), children’s services (£19m), libraries and other services in 2026/7 savings are now also being proposed to ensure a balanced budget.

The council knows that it will need to find further savings of at least £14m in 2027/28 (in addition to the £5.4m in 2026/27) because the government provided funding information for three years. As such there will need to be planning work throughout 2026 to meet this large challenge. Further savings will be needed in 2028/29, the first year of local government reform in Oxfordshire. By 2028/9 the reduction in grant funding is £27.2m.

The proposals will now be debated by all councillors at a meeting of the full council on 10 February.

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Property, Finance and Transformation, said “This year’s budget features a number of positive investments with significant extra money for adult social care and children’s services to cope with demand. However, we have had to propose some savings to ensure budgets are balanced and we are going to start facing real challenges in future years. We need people to hear that message loud and clear.

“The government has cut grant funding and assumed the council will make up most of the difference with maximum Council Tax rises. The effect of this is that we will have to put up Council Tax by 4.99% each year, but a lot of this money will immediately be subtracted by the government and sent elsewhere. This is both financially difficult and hard to square with local accountability and choice.   Even with 4.99% Council Tax rises, the effect will be that Oxfordshire will have less money to spend on services for residents.

“Money is being redistributed away from Oxfordshire and other areas on a large scale by the government. There will be very real impacts on our budgets and our services in future.

“We respect the government’s desire to put extra money into areas of the country that have higher levels of deprivation. However, do not think this should be at the expense of Oxfordshire and its residents.”

Savings to close the £5.4m budget gap in 2026/7

There are proposals to save £3,9m by setting less money aside for pay inflation; assuming more money will be accumulated in bank interest on money waiting to be spent on services during the year and by reducing contingency funding.

The remaining £1.5m is proposed to be from services by way of the following:

• In 2025/26 the council took the unprecedented step of moving to annual gully clearance, backed by £1.5m of new investment, a significant improvement on previous years. Against the challenging backdrop of central government cuts, the council proposes to maintain additional investment while spending it carefully in order to address the most pressing needs and not duplicate or carry out unnecessary clearances. This means an additional £1.2m is still planned, and the capital budget will include a £2m investment in each of 2026/27 and 2027/28 to improve drainage systems that have been found to require major repair after years of neglect
• The council will seek to reduce operating costs by £250,000 in transport services that it provides in adult social care/children’s services/home to school transport etc. The aim is that there will be no negative impact on the end user. This will be achieved by seeking efficiencies with organisations such as taxi and bus companies. A £1 million saving in this area was included in last year’s budget and the overall budget for this area is £43m.
• The council’s adult social care charging policy currently makes a standard allowance for Disability Related Expenditure (DRE) of 35 per cent.  Subject to a full consultation process the council’s proposal is to consider a reduction of the DRE to 25 per cent which would produce a potential in year saving of £500,000. Following consultation, the council will consider next steps and in the event that it decides not to proceed with this proposal, alternative savings will need to be found.
• After reviewing its inflationary pressure Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue can absorb a previously listed financial pressure of £120,000 for personal protective equipment without any impact to the public or firefighter safety.
• The council has a school improvement team that operates in non-academy schools to support improvement in standards. The team will continue to offer support, and schools do pay towards this without covering the full cost. A government grant that helped towards this was withdrawn over the last three years, and the council has substituted this from its own funds. A first move to schools fully paying for the service is planned, which will allow a saving of £100,000. More than half of Oxfordshire primary schools are academies and all but one secondary school and will therefore not be affected by this proposal.
• By paying for some staffing costs out of its capital programme budget for major projects the council can save £150,000 from its day to day revenue budget.

A major change to the way the government distributes grant money to councils means it and many other local authorities will face real challenges from 2026/27 with £1.5 million of new savings to services being discussed to help close a budget gap of £5.4m – and more significant reductions in the following two years.

The government only told councils how much money they would be receiving just before Christmas, leaving no time for officers to work up savings proposals for 2026/27.

The county council has options for delivering a balanced budget in 2026/27 but will be unable to expand services as it would have liked and will ask scrutiny councillors and cabinet for views on how a current funding gap of £5.4m can be dealt with by 10 February when a budget is set.

Measures will be proposed for debate including the use of reserves; setting less money aside in forecasting annual pay inflation and increasing the amount anticipated to be accrued in bank interest on money the council plans to spend in the normal process of delivering services  – each of which come with risk.

Another proposal for debate is increasing funding that will potentially be needed to fund the cumulative High Needs dedicated schools grant deficit but not by quite as much as originally planned.

A further option that would help the longer run budget is to seek additional savings of £1.5m from services in 2026/27.

The council now knows for certain that it will need to find further savings of at least £14m in 2027/28 (in addition to the £5.4m in 2026/27) because the government provided funding information for three years. As such there will need to be planning work throughout 2026 to meet this large challenge. Further savings will be needed in 2028/29, the first year of local government reform in Oxfordshire.

By 2028/29 there is a reduction of £24.1m in funding from central government. Within that there is an increase of £3.1m in funding for the Families First Partnership that the government will expect the council to use to fund new investment and activity in preventative services for children’s social care. Excluding that, the reduction in grant funding is £27.2m

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Property, Finance and Transformation, said: “While we always take a prudent approach to budget setting there are pressures relating to social care that need to be met. These services are demand-led and if that demand rises then we have to find the money to meet the costs. There are also inflationary costs to be met in 2026/27.

“As a cabinet we will listen to councillors in the scrutiny committee and debate ourselves how we balance the 2026/27 budget and we have options that do not impact on services. However, people need to be under absolutely no illusion that in future we and many partner councils in local government will not have that luxury. Having three years’ worth of funding information means we know that stark reality for certain.

“Money is being redistributed away from Oxfordshire and other areas on a large scale by the government. There will be very real impacts on our budgets and our services in future.

“While we respect the government’s desire to put extra money into areas of the country that have higher levels of deprivation, we do not think this should be at the expense of Oxfordshire and its residents.”

The proposed Council Tax rise for 2026/27 is 4.99 per cent. The government has assumed that the council will set Council Tax at this level for each of the next three years in calculating the amount of grant funding it awarded the council under its new formula for distributing funds to councils across England.

Cllr Levy added: “This year’s budget features a number of positive investments but we are going to start facing real challenges thereafter. We need people to hear that message loud and clear. The government has cut grant funding and assumed the council will make up the difference with maximum Council Tax rises.

“The effect of this is that we will have to put up Council Tax by 4.99% each year, but a lot of this money will immediately be subtracted by the government and sent elsewhere. This is both financially difficult and hard to square with local accountability and choice.”

Key investments

• The council will continue the annual highway gully cleaning that was reinstated in 2025/26 and a further £4m will be invested (£2m in 2026/27 and £2m in 2027/28) in improved drainage infrastructure to help protect communities from flooding. This will deliver new and replacement drainage systems and help roads be kept free from flooded areas as much as possible, strengthening local flood resilience.
• A total of £150,000 will be invested to progress design and construction for Phase 1 of the Wantage Market Place project, focusing on the West End. Building on previous design work and consultation, the scheme will replace the tarmac surface with paving in keeping with the historic town centre, creating a safe, traffic-free space with step-free access.
• Libraries will see capital programme investment to create flexible, accessible spaces that supports a wider range of activities and resources with £360,000 for Wantage Library and £250,000 (rising by a further £500,000 in 2027/28) for Goring Library and £550,000 for Didcot Library.
• A total of £14m is proposed to be allocated to adult social care to deal with financial pressures including projected population growth and accompanying increases in people in care and the financial effect of the increase in high-cost complex placements.
• A total of £19m is proposed to be allocated to Children’s Services to meet additional costs of children’s social care and education. In addition to this, new activity required by the government as part of the Families First Partnership will be funded from a £3.1m increase in grant funding in 2026/27.
• Demand for the park & ride joint ticketing deal (£4 for 16 hours of parking and return bus ticket for one person, £5 for two people, plus up to three children under 16 travel free) has exceeded expectations. The congestion charge is working to shift people away from cars and onto buses and active travel.  Extra funding of £400,000 is required for it to continue in 2026/27 with potentially more in future years. This will be funded from parking income.
• Maintaining real time passenger information digital display boards at bus stops across the county in 2026/27, installed due to sustained Bus Service Improvement Plan funding from the government, requires additional investment. A total of £320,000 is required to maintain the entire system. This funding helps to ensure the lifespan of all display assets is maximised. This will be funded from reserves.

Savings

Because adult and children’s social care are now a much larger proportion of the council’s budget, it is challenging to find significant service savings. 

The following savings have been identified for 2026/27 but work will need to continue throughout 2026 to identify options from 2027/28 onwards.  

• The county council purchases electricity based on a forward purchasing price. If the prices and market trends remain as projected, there is potentially a £250,000 saving that the council can realise in 2026/27. This would need to be monitored and is subject to price changes.
• Other savings relate to the use of funding held in reserves to fund pressures where that is possible and the addition of £5.4m funding from the national packaging Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme that needs to be used to meet the cost of disposal of packaging waste.

The budget will be set by county councillors on 10 February

The most significant changes to local government funding in more than a decade were originally due to be confirmed by government in October but have now been delayed until late November. The council will then not hear specifically how much money it is to receive in grant funding until mid-December.

Oxfordshire County Council is currently expecting to lose around £35 million funding over a three-year period but until specific detail is made clear by the government, large uncertainties remain.

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “It is well known that the financial environment for local government has been very tough for some years now. We work hard to balance our budgets and continue to provide much valued, high quality services to Oxfordshire people. Overall, our finances are in a resilient and stable position compared to many other councils.

“Each year as autumn moves in to winter we have to wait to hear what funding central government will provide in grants, and there is always uncertainty until we see the detail in black and white. This year that uncertainty is greatly amplified because of the wide-ranging changes the government plans to the formula it uses to decide how much each individual council in England will receive.

“This creates real complications for our finance experts who have only been able to model the potential outcomes to a very limited extent due to the low amount of information available. We do expect to lose out over coming years but it’s hard to speak in anything other than the broadest terms.

“We do, of course, have all of the usual and continuing pressures on our budgets that have been experienced for a decade or more by us and fellow councils such as inflation and pressures on spend in social care. We also expect the government to increase the national living wage from April 2026.

“Our finances are managed well, and this gives us a strong base from which to seek protection for frontline services. However, there are so many unknown factors as we head into winter and the period when we set our budget for 2026/27.

“What we, and many people in local government, find disappointing is that the most significant change to the distribution of funding being announced for many years is being squeezed into the same timeframe as when councils are actually going through the process of setting a budget. It works against the ability to councils to conduct any meaningful consultation. It makes it very difficult to make the hard decisions that all councils go through when setting budgets and it limits our ability to serve our residents in an effective and cost-efficient way.

“We were promised by the incoming government that there would be improvements to the way that funds were allocated to support local services. We are still waiting for those improvements.”

When the council set its budget for 2025/26 it also set a medium-term plan for future years including 2026/27. This estimated a budget deficit of £2 million before the impact of funding reform. 

New pressures and impacts from the new government funding formula would be added to this

In the same medium-term plan the council worked on the basis of a 3.99 per cent council tax rise in 2026/27. In the summer the government confirmed that the referendum limit above which a referendum would be required for a council tax rise will be 4.99 per cent.

Medium-term financial planning for the council will be set out to the early 2030s so that information is available to support local government reorganisation, currently timetabled to happen in April 2028. Oxfordshire’s district and city councils are doing the same and this is to provide a good basis from which new council structures can work.

Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet today approved the accelerated delivery plan to unlock £27.5 million of investment – known as Section 106 (S106) funding.

By investing £4m of additional funding, which was approved in the 2025-26 budget, it aims to fast-track 33 schemes that otherwise faced delays due to various barriers and funding gaps.

The accelerated delivery programme includes 16 active travel schemes, two bus improvement schemes, six combined bus and cycle schemes, five traffic calming and village improvements, two junction improvements and two strategic link improvements.

The 33 schemes were chosen based on local priorities.

Councillor Judy Roberts, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Place, Environment and Climate Action, said: “Our S106 reserves have been in the spotlight in recent years, and it is only right and proper that public money comes under this high level of scrutiny.

“We are proud of our record of securing S106 contributions from developers to pay for the infrastructure that communities need. However, the process of making sure that money is spent promptly is far from simple.

“That’s why we are continually investigating ways of speeding up the delivery process for the benefit of residents. This accelerated delivery plan should help unlock the funding required to enable work to begin on these much-needed projects.”

S106 money is held for specific purposes related to development and cannot be spent on general council services. In most cases, the projects they relate to are large and complex, can take many years to come forward, and have trigger points when payments can be made.

The rate of spend of reserves of S106 money has increased in recent years as the council looks to deliver the infrastructure that Oxfordshire’s towns and villages need to cope with new developments in their areas. This new scheme is expected to ensure that trend continues.

Sign up to hear from us and receive the latest news and updates in our fortnightly newsletter, Your Oxfordshire.

In late December, councils across the country were given individual information on their grant funding for 2025/26.

In the autumn, Oxfordshire County Council had said that it would face a £25 million funding shortfall in 2025/26 before taking account of any new funding.

The impact of new money allocated to local government combined with local changes and a recommendation for a 4.99 per cent council tax increase in 2025/26 means proposals can be made to deal with this shortfall with some additional money to allocate to services.

A total of two per cent of the council tax increase would need to be ringfenced for adult social care under rules set down by central government.

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “Each year central government allocates grant funding to individual councils and this information is communicated in late December.

“Our finance team has been working its way through this information in fine detail. The analysis is that the council is now able to set a balanced budget in 2025/26 with some additional funding allocated to new priorities on a one-off basis.

“We still look to future years with some concern. While the 2025/26 financial year looks healthier, there remains huge uncertainty about the impact of funding reform that could reduce the funding available to the council beyond that.”

Changes to previous proposals

The combination of a proposed 4.99 per cent council tax rise and additional grant funding from government means the following one-off broad additions can be made to areas of the council’s budget with precise detail to be worked on later by officers:

• £2.1m for pro-active flooding measures and working with communities who have suffered flooding. This would be added to £1.5m new funding that has already been proposed for highway drainage.
• £1m to leverage investment in rail, including supporting active travel access, improvement programmes and the development of strategic cases and masterplans to prove the environmental, economic and community case for rail.
• £300,000 towards working with other organisations collaboratively on planning regeneration in Banbury Town Centre
• £1.3m for active travel measures to encourage walking and cycling would be added to the £500,000 for active travel in rural areas already proposed.
• £400,000 is proposed to support holding the price of a joint ticket (parking and bus fare) at Park & Ride car parks unchanged from 2024/25

A public consultation on the substance of the 2025/26 budget proposals ran throughout December and ended on 2 January 2025.

This followed extensive engagement with residents over the summer on their priorities, including on the budget. This was through the council’s annual residents’ survey and participatory engagement opportunities using an online budget simulator, focus groups and sounding boards for children and young people.

The feedback from this engagement is included in the Cabinet report along with the consultation responses.

Councillor Levy added: “At this stage these remain proposals. Cabinet has now set out its proposed budget and full council will finally set the budget on 11 February. In finalising our proposals, we have taken account of feedback from our budget engagement activity in the summer, from scrutiny committees in December and January and the findings from our budget consultation.”

In late December, councils across the country were given individual information on their grant funding for 2025/26.

In the autumn, Oxfordshire County Council had said that it would face a £25 million funding shortfall in 2025/26 before taking account of any new funding.

The impact of new money allocated to local government combined with local changes and a recommendation for a 4.99 per cent council tax increase in 2025/26 means proposals can be made to deal with this shortfall with some additional money to allocate to services.

A total of two per cent of the council tax increase would need to be ringfenced for adult social care under rules set down by central government.

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “Each year central government allocates grant funding to individual councils and this information is communicated in late December.

“Our finance team has been working its way through this information in fine detail. The analysis is that the council is now able to set a balanced budget in 2025/26 with some additional funding allocated to new priorities on a one-off basis.

“We still look to future years with some concern. While the 2025/26 financial year looks healthier, there remains huge uncertainty about the impact of funding reform that could reduce the funding available to the council beyond that.”

Changes to previous proposals

The combination of a proposed 4.99 per cent council tax rise and additional grant funding from government means the following one-off broad additions can be made to areas of the council’s budget with precise detail to be worked on later by officers:

• £2.1m for pro-active flooding measures and working with communities who have suffered flooding. This would be added to £1.5m new funding that has already been proposed for highway drainage.
• £1m to leverage investment in rail, including supporting active travel access, improvement programmes and the development of strategic cases and masterplans to prove the environmental, economic and community case for rail.
• £300,000 towards working with other organisations collaboratively on planning regeneration in Banbury Town Centre
• £1.3m for active travel measures to encourage walking and cycling would be added to the £500,000 for active travel in rural areas already proposed.
• £400,000 is proposed to support holding the price of a joint ticket (parking and bus fare) at Park & Ride car parks unchanged from 2024/25

A public consultation on the substance of the 2025/26 budget proposals ran throughout December and ended on 2 January 2025.

This followed extensive engagement with residents over the summer on their priorities, including on the budget. This was through the council’s annual residents’ survey and participatory engagement opportunities using an online budget simulator, focus groups and sounding boards for children and young people.

The feedback from this engagement was included in the budget and business planning report to cabinet on 15 October 2024. A summary of the consultation findings will also be included in the report to cabinet on 28 January.

Councillor Levy added: “At this stage these remain proposals. Cabinet will set out its proposed budget at a special meeting on 28 January before full council finally sets the budget on 11 February. In finalising our proposals, we have taken account of feedback from our budget engagement activity in the summer, from scrutiny committees in December and January and initial findings from our budget consultation.”

Oxfordshire County Council launched its Climate Action Framework in 2020, which set out how it wants to cut its own emissions and transform into an organisation that can play its part in Oxfordshire’s green transition.

As part of these plans, the council is now launching the first round of the Oxfordshire Green Investment, which will allow residents and businesses to invest in the greener future of their communities.

It is looking to raise an initial £500,000 to help fund a range of energy efficiency improvements to council owned buildings, such as fire stations and care homes as well as an ambitious tree planting programme.  

While the council invests its own money in many climate change measures, this was seen as a great opportunity to allow the public to be involved in our net zero ambition.

This type of investment, also known as a Community Municipal Investment, will offer a “low-risk” return of [4.4 per cent] a year, which is fixed for the full five year investment term. Anyone can get involved, with a minimum investment of just £5.

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance said: “The council wants to lead the way by reaching net zero significantly ahead of the national 2050 target, and wants to inspire local residents and businesses to join it along the way.

“This scheme is a chance for people to get involved and help fund the council’s exciting plans. Initially, we want to raise £500,000 to support a variety of green measures;to decarbonise council-owned buildings; help create cleaner air; and improve local biodiversity for the county as a whole.”

Councillor Pete Sudbury Deputy Leader of the Council with Responsibility for Climate Change, Environment & Future Generations said: “It's great to be able to offer residents of this county an investment designed for a decent return, with a direct impact on improving their local environment and services."

The investment process is managed by Abundance Investment, a leading platform for ethical and sustainable investments. It’s simple (and free) to find out more about how to get involved – just click here to get started.

This initiative is entirely separate from the council’s budget process for 2025/26 and beyond.

Notes to editors:

Investments are long-term and may be hard to sell. Council investments are not a savings account and you  are lending money to a council. Changes in market interest rates may affect the value of your investment if you sell before maturity. Approver: Abundance investment (FRN 525432). Approval date: 25/11/24.

Abundance’s service in relation to council investments (P2P loans) is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.

Holding investments in an IFISA does not reduce the risk of the investment or protect you from losses. You can still lose all your money. It only means that any potential gains from your investment will be tax free. The tax treatment of your investment will depend on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.

Oxfordshire Green Investment, which is a loan, is Green Loan Principles compliant and is being issued under a Green Finance Framework. This is a voluntary standard which sets out how Oxfordshire County Council intends to manage its green local authority securities in the future, and outlines how it will meet the Green Loan Principles. This assures investors that funds raised can only be used to help them deliver on eligible green projects from within this framework, and Abundance will monitor the use of funds across the investment term to ensure the principles are being adhered to.

On 30 October, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, made announcements during her autumn statement that referenced the financial challenges that have been experienced across local government over a number of years. Earlier that month, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet received an early budget report saying the authority has a £13.9 million shortfall for 2025/26.

The first draft of the council’s budget for 2025/26 contains £14.1m of money to meet financial pressures, £5.4m of new investments and £17.9m of savings. Meanwhile the council awaits news of what the limit will be on council tax rises for 2025/26.

Funding will not be known until December when the government will issue the draft financial settlement for local government with specific detail for individual councils. Further financial information will then be received as winter progresses. A budget is finally set in February.

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “Following years of underinvestment in local government, we welcomed the chancellor's announcement in October relating to extra funding nationally for local government in 2025/26.

“While this looks likely to address some shorter-term challenges that councils are facing, it's important not to underestimate the scale of the public sector’s financial issues. Rising costs and ever-increasing demand means that current and future challenges very much remain, especially in children’s services and adult social care.

“We need to see exactly how the broad information given by the chancellor in October will translate into specific detail for Oxfordshire County Council and we won’t begin to discover that until well into December.

“We also wait to see what the government will do to tackle the financial predicament of local government looking ahead to future years. A longer-term view needs to be taken with multi-year financial settlements being a part of that. We would also want to see councils in all parts of the country being treated equally.

“Our track record of responsible financial management means that Oxfordshire County Council is in a more resilient and robust position than many other authorities. However, the general position remains challenging.”

A public consultation on the substance of the 2025/26 budget proposals is now live and will run until 2 January 2025 on the council’s consultation and digital engagement platform Let’s talk Oxfordshire. People can comment on the council’s proposed budget with feedback captured using an online form or in writing by Freepost. 

The consultation follows extensive engagement with residents over the summer on their priorities, including on the budget. This was through the council’s annual residents’ survey and participatory engagement opportunities using an online budget simulator, focus groups and sounding boards for children and young people. The feedback from this engagement was included in the budget and business planning report to cabinet on 15 October 2024.

Investments into companies that derive significant revenues from thermal coal, tar sands and tobacco production have been excluded from investments by the county’s Pension Fund Committee, which is hosted by Oxfordshire County Council with representatives from other organisations as members.

With the adoption of a new responsible investment policy at its September meeting, the committee decided to exclude investments in thermal coal, as it is by far the highest carbon-emitting source of energy; tar sands, as it is among the most carbon-intensive means of crude oil production; and tobacco, as its products are responsible for killing up to eight million people a year.

The policy also excludes companies producing controversial weapons where their use is complicit in breaches of United Nations’ human rights standards.

The Oxfordshire Pension Fund is committed to actively engaging with the companies it invests in, as this approach is in the long-term interest of the company, investors, and broader society.

However, it is unlikely that engagement with the companies that have significant activities in these areas will lead to meaningful change in their behaviour. The fund and its investment pool manager Brunel will, therefore, concentrate engagement efforts on sectors and companies where engagement will be more effective.

Councillor Donna Ford, Chair of the Pension Fund Committee, said “The pension fund is committed to considering environment social and governance factors in investment decisions to ensure the long-term interests of the fund are protected.

“The fund’s investment view is that tobacco companies represent a financial risk to the fund as they face intense pressure from investors, regulators and consumers, and therefore the decision to divest from tobacco is the right one.

“As a fund, we also have a commitment to be net zero by 2050. Thermal coal and tar sands are some of the most intense emitters of greenhouse gases, as such they are not compatible with our net zero target, so we will be divesting from these highly polluting sectors and reallocating money to more sustainable investments.”

More information

The Oxfordshire Pension Fund is managed by a committee of councillors who are advised by the county council’s director of finance and an independent financial advisor.

All public sector pension schemes were required under the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 to set up a pension board with effect from 2015/16 to assist the administering authorities of their pension scheme in ensuring compliance with national Local Government Pension Scheme and other pension regulations.

The board's key roles are to support and challenge the Pension Fund Committee as it carries out its legal responsibilities.

More information about the board, the committee and the work that they do is available on Oxfordshire County Council's website or the Brunel Partnership’s website. For more information about the pension fund’s policies and investments visit the Oxfordshire Pension Fund investment webpage.

Councils across the country are waiting to hear what the newly elected government’s approach to local government finance will be with some information potentially becoming available as part of the chancellor’s autumn statement on 30 October

 Local government has experienced reductions in grant funding over the last ten years while demands on services have increased – especially in children’s and adults’ social care. This has led to a period of widescale financial challenges in the sector.

 When Oxfordshire County Council set its budget for 2024/25 it set out broad plans for 2025/26. It noted that extra money would be needed for demographic growth in adult and children’s social care; increases in waste tonnages;  anticipated population growth and housing changes; and inflationary pressures.

It was calculated at that early stage that there would be a shortfall of £13.9 million for 2025/26. This shortfall will need to be closed as the budget setting process progresses, with any additional or new pressures potentially adding to the shortfall and any funding or new savings subtracting from it. The council will need to set a budget that is balanced to the available funding in February 2025.

 At this stage calculations are being made on the basis of a 1.99 per cent council tax rise – the new government has not set out a policy on any council tax rise limits. Other key information also needs to be confirmed,  including how the national living wage will operate from 1 April 2025.

 Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “Although October is when our budget setting process goes up a further gear, a lot of planning takes place before this. Indeed, we set our broad parameters for 2025/26 when we set a budget for 2024/25.

 “We are keen to see how the new government will approach local government finance given the well documented challenges and difficulties that councils have faced in recent years. At Oxfordshire County Council, our sensible financial management and forward planning has meant we’ve remained in a resilient position. However, as was clear back in February, our starting point for 2025/26 is a £13.9m shortfall in funding, with any new pressures potentially adding to that.

 “We hope that the government will think long and hard about local government finance, acknowledge the challenges faced now for many years and come up with ways forward that help us to continue delivering the crucial services we provide. We will work hard to keep our end of the bargain by doing all we can to make sure our services are as efficiently run as possible.”

Although local government may be given at least some further information by the chancellor on 30 October, individual councils will not hear about the grant funding levels until late December. The council will publish its first detailed budget proposals for 2025/26 in late November. A consultation will follow building on information already gained from local people through the council’s annual residents’ survey, a budget simulator exercise and through engagement events that took place over the summer.

Initial budget proposals will change and be adjusted as more information becomes available with a final budget not being set until 11 February 2025. Cabinet and scrutiny committees will receive updates throughout the winter.

Following an allocation of £3,361,256 from the government’s Household Support Fund, the council would be able to provide support for the next six months.

Councillor Nathan Ley, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health, Inequalities and Community Safety, said: “While the rate of inflation has reduced a great deal, the impact is still being felt by many, especially low-income households with many costs remaining very high.

“This is why it’s so important that this funding from the government’s Household Support Fund means we can carry on providing support to those who need it the most for the next six months.”

This funding is the fifth round of assistance provided by the government’s Household Support Fund to support vulnerable residents. All funding must be spent by 30 September 2024.

The programme will provide support to the following groups:

• Children and young people in early years settings, schools and colleges will continue to receive free school meal equivalent support ahead of school holiday periods.
• City and district councils will receive additional funding for locally targeted support as in the previous year.
• The Residents Support Scheme funding will stay at the same level as 2023/24, ensuring anyone experiencing financial crisis can get assistance with basic household costs.

The Residents’ Support Scheme launched back in June 2023 and helps residents with one-off short-term basic living costs such as food, credit for gas/electric prepayment meters and essential household items. During the first 10 months of the scheme, 5,238 applications were received, with 3,620 of those resulting in an award being made.

Residents can learn more about help available during the cost of living crisis at Oxfordshire County Council’s dedicated webpage oxfordshire.gov.uk/living.

Click Sign up to hear from us and receive the latest news and updates in our fortnightly newsletter, Your Oxfordshire.

The new service is due to start in November this year, bringing together two separate programmes from Oxfordshire County Council’s public health and health, education and social care (HESC) teams, increasing the overall funding and broadening the potential reach of the programme.

Councillor Tim Bearder, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, said: “The link between financial hardship and health and wellbeing can be a vicious cycle. Poor health can lead to financial difficulties through reduced access to education and limiting employment opportunities. Living with the stress and anxiety of financial hardship can have a damaging impact on long-term health and wellbeing.

“By combining our resources and bringing financial and health advice resources together, we can offer even greater support to people living in Oxfordshire, enabling them to live well and independently within their own communities. Something we call the Oxfordshire Way.”

The new advice service merges the Oxfordshire Specialist Advice Service and the Benefits in Place programme and will provide free, independent and impartial advice to assist people with benefits, debt, budgeting and other financial and welfare issues. It will help to support people to maximise their income, enabling them to look after themselves in their own homes and communities.

This, in turn, aims to bring sustainable health benefits to residents, enabling them to spend more money on activities which support their wellbeing. There will also be an offer of training for people around money management and this will help to build confidence in people and more resilient communities.

Councillor Nathan Ley, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health, Inequalities and Community Safety, said: "While Oxfordshire could generally be considered a healthier part of the country than most others, we can’t ignore that some pronounced disparities remain, particularly with the gap in health outcomes between our wealthiest and most disadvantaged areas. It's clear that health and financial wellbeing are deeply interconnected: poor health can lead to financial strain, just as financial troubles can adversely affect health.

“This reality underscores the importance of our new and enhanced service. By offering this improved support, we're not just addressing a need, we're taking a significant step towards bridging these gaps at the root cause level. It represents a critical move in ensuring those most in need receive the comprehensive assistance necessary for both their financial and health wellbeing."

Data suggests that the amount of people who use the council's existing specialist advice services has increased by nine per cent on previous years and that more than half of those who have been in touch are aged 75 years or older.

Similarly, the complexity of the issues has increased, with 4,549 advice issues managed, an increase of ten percent in the last year.

The refreshed programme has been codesigned following engagement with people who have used the council’s advice services in the previous year. This involvement will continue prior to the launch of the new service, building in suggestions and possible improvements for residents.

As well as uniting the advice services, funds have been set aside to modernise the provision, including the possible use of artificial intelligence to help better signpost people to potential support available to them.

Click Sign up to hear from us and receive the latest news and updates in our fortnightly newsletter, Your Oxfordshire.

All three main political groups on the council presented their own budget proposals. The Liberal Democrat Green Alliance group forms the administration at the council and they first published a draft budget in late November.

This went through several changes as levels of government and other funding became clearer. A balanced budget was proposed by the council’s cabinet in early February, which later included additional money awarded to councils in England from central government.

The Conservative and Labour groups each independently proposed their own amendments to this budget. Each set of budget proposals was debated in the council chamber.

The Liberal Democrats accepted Labour group amendments and a budget was agreed.

What changes were made from the budget proposed by cabinet in January?

The cabinet’s original budget contained real terms increases for both adults and children’s social care. There is a ten per cent real terms increase for children’s services aimed at helping children stay at home where possible and in Oxfordshire when they need residential support and to support improvements in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

There is also extra money for highways, especially gulley maintenance.

Cabinet’s longstanding commitment to reductions in air pollution and congestion, and to support bus use and active travel are also important parts of the budget.

The Labour amendment that was accepted means that the following is also included in the budget:

• Increasing early intervention work in early years and primary school settings to respond to SEND needs and proactively support the transition into mainstream education (£500,000 in 2024/25 and £380,000 ongoing funding from 2025/26).
• Invest in the Family Help Team to reduce the future demand and cost of care. £375,000 in 2024/25 rising to £500,000 in 2025/26
• Introduce four new Controlled Parking Zones (£200,000 in 24/5)
• Investment in improved collection of fees, charges and penalties (£210,000)
• Restore cost of living funding to support local advice centres. (£300,000)
• £300,000 revenue funding for borrowing supporting £5m additional funding for scheduled highways maintenance added to the capital programme. Meanwhile other capital investments include £6m for additional new children’s homes and £12.65m for additional active travel work

Cllr Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “We have worked hard to balance our budget and find savings so we could provide the investment needed to meet demands and pressures in social care. The budget for both adults and children’s social care will rise in real terms in 2024/25.

“Other areas of focus for our extra spending include extra spending for children with special educational needs and disabilities to support improvements in this area. There are also investments in highway maintenance, especially gully cleaning.

“Our longstanding commitments to reductions in air pollution and congestion, and our support for bus use and active travel are also strong elements of the budget we have set.

“Although central government came up with extra cash for local councils in England, this was very late and not enough to resolve the financial challenges facing the sector as a whole. Councils continue to look towards the remainder of the 2020s with concern.

Other key information about the county council budget for 2024/25 and the vote:

• The net budget for 2024/25 will be: £611m
• Council tax will rise by 4.99 per cent.
• Spending on both adult and children’s social care will rise in real terms to meet rising demands and costs.
• A total of 37 councillors voted in favour of the budget and 18 abstained,

The political groups at the county council

• There are 63 county councillors however four were unable to attend.
• The Liberal Democrat Green Alliance group is made up of 23 county councillors (20 Liberal Democrat and three Green)
• The Conservative group is made up of 21 county councillors, with one independent councillor aligned with them in the Conservative Independent Alliance.
•  The Labour & Co-operative Party group is made up of 14 county councillors.
• There are four independent councillors including one member of the Henley Residents Group.

On 30 January, the cabinet agreed balanced budget proposals to be presented to the annual budget setting meeting of the county council on 20 February. This is when all 63 county councillors meet to agree a budget for the next financial year and a medium-term strategy for following years.

The council had been working since late November to close what had previously been a shortfall between what was needed to continue delivering services in the 2024/25 budget and the money available.

After the proposals for cabinet had been formulated, central government announced an additional £600m of funding for councils across the nation in recognition of the financial difficulties faced in the sector. It has since been confirmed that Oxfordshire County Council’s share of this will be £4.8m

Local government funding beyond 2024/25 is uncertain and so the cabinet has only been able to propose one-off spending that does not extend beyond the 2024/25 financial year. Central government has suggested that councils should use the social care element of the new funding to invest in areas that help place children’s social care services on a sustainable financial footing, while being mindful of the level of adult social care provision.

Meanwhile the council is also able to allocate £1.3m from its own budget reserves for new highway and flood recovery work.

Cllr Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “While this extra funding is welcome it has come very late in the day and there remains no longer term plan to deal with the future sustainability of local government across England. Funding is uncertain beyond 2024/25.

“We had already worked hard to balance our budget and find savings so we could provide the investment needed to meet demands and pressures in social care. The budget for both adults and children’s social care was already planned to rise in real terms in 2024/25.

“We have given careful thought as to how this new money should be spent bearing in mind the uncertainties beyond 2024/25 and the fact that most of it should be spent on social care. At £4.8m the new money represents less than one per cent of our overall budget for 2024/25.

“We have listened carefully to what residents have outlined as their priorities during our conversations and engagement with them on our budget over the past six months. A further factor behind our decisions is providing greater support for early help for families and young children to help prevent the need for further spending down the line, working where practical with the voluntary and community sector.

“Other areas of focus for our extra spending include travel for children with special educational needs, support for those affected by flooding, and maintenance of our footpaths and cyclepaths. On the latter, we had already proposed extra money as part of our original budget – although it remains a real disappointment that central government is not recognising the need for extra sustainable funding on roads and infrastructure.”

What are the new proposals?

• £1m for social care (both children and adults) to accelerate digital methods of helping service users find the right information and advice.
• A total of £774,000 to develop the already successful Oxfordshire Way approach (in both children’s and adults social care) to help people live well and independently in their communities, remaining fit and healthy for as long as possible.
• A £1m investment in home to school transport with half to improve data and systems and mitigate pressures by creating efficiencies in the current service. The other half would be for travel training and accessibility to increase independence among service users.
• A £1m investment to further embed the family safeguarding model in children’s social care. This seeks to reduce demand by resolving family issues at the earliest opportunity
• A £500,000 scheme to encourage more people to join the successful Shared Lives scheme.
• A £1.3m investment to undertake gully and ditch cleaning in areas recently affected by flooding, boost capacity with landowners and parishes for them to clear ditches and implement sustainable drainage schemes and a second cut of urban verges and vegetation clearance around footways and cycleways.

The annual budget setting meeting of the county council takes place at 10.30am on Tuesday 20 February.

Measures had already been proposed to address what had become an £11.2m shortfall after central government grant funding announcements failed to provide local government with the required finance to meet the pressures being experienced across the nation.

The proposals form part of the final budget being recommended to the council’s cabinet on 30 January, which will then be decided at the annual budget setting meeting of all 63 county councillors on 20 February.

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “Councils throughout the country made clear to central government through the Local Government Association and other channels that more funding was needed this year and in following years due to the high levels of pressures in areas such as social care, special educational needs and other services.

“There has been deep disappointment at the failure of government to address these issues.

“Our track record of responsible financial management means that Oxfordshire County Council has been in a more resilient position than many other authorities. However, the overall position is extremely challenging.

“This final batch of proposed measures means we are able to put forward a balanced budget but it has been a difficult process and we know this is mirrored in town and county halls throughout the land. We know that we, and local government as a whole, will continue to face difficult financial challenges in 2025/26 and beyond.

“It remains the case that our budgets for both adults and children’s social care will increase in real-terms after accounting for inflation in 2024, with investments to meet pressures outweighing savings proposals.”

What are the newly proposed measures?

• The county council has been notified that district councils have given a further improved forecast as to how much council tax will be collected in Oxfordshire. This amounts to £300,000.
• The council is able to reduce the amount it puts in contingency funding by £100,000.
• The council’s award-winning innovation hub (iHub) will move to becoming self-financing, which has created a saving of £300,000. It was launched in 2018 by the council to promote innovation in the county. This includes developing solutions on intelligent infrastructure, health, environment and mobility systems, as well as implementing projects to improve the local economy and environment for Oxfordshire’s citizens.
• A series of rises to charges for on-street parking and residents parking permits (helping cover the full costs of maintenance of controlled parking zones), This would raise £200,000 combined. 

Further detail

Detail as regards proposed on-street parking and residents parking changes:

• Abingdon: On-street parking pay and display would rise from £1.10 for one hour (8am to 6pm excluding Sundays and Bank Holidays) to £1.30. Two hours rises from £1.50 to £2.
• Oxford city centre central area (Zone 1): Street parking for one hour would rise from £6.60 to £7.60; two hours from £13.20 to £15.20. Evening parking would also rise from £6.60 to £7.60. Parking for an hour on Saturday rises from £6.60 to £7.60 and from £13.20 to £15.20 for two hours.
• Oxford city centre (Zone 2 including Jericho): Street parking for one hour would rise from £5.50 to £6.30 and for three hours from £16.50 to £19. Street parking for evenings and Sundays would rise from £5.50 to £6.30.
• Wallingford: Street parking for one and a half hours would rise from 70p to 80p.
• Residents parking permits: In Abingdon and Henley-on-Thames, a second batch of 25 visitor permits would rise from £27.50 to £31.50.
• In Oxford, business permits would rise from £44 to £50.50 for three months, £82.50 to £95 for six months and £126.50 to £145 for nine months. An annual permit would rise from £165 to £190. A change of vehicle charge will rise from £22 to £25.
• In Oxford, residents parking permits would rise from £70 to £80 for a first and second car and £140 to £161 for a third car In the Kassam Stadium area a permit would rise from £17.50 to £20.
• In Oxford a traders permit per week would rise from £27.50 to £31.50. A second batch of 25 visitor permits would rise from £27.50 to £31.50.
• In Banbury and Bicester a residents parking permit would rise from £66 to £76 with a second batch of 25 visitor permits rising from £27.50 to £31.50
• In Wantage and Wallingford a residents parking permit would rise from £100 to £110, and a second 25 visitor permits would rise from £25 to £31.50.
• Parking bay suspensions:  The charge for the suspension of a parking pay (both pay and display and non pay and display) would rise from £33 to £38.

Proposals to save more than £9.8m in 2024/25 were set out by the county council in November as it seeks to set a balanced budget in the face of continued inflationary pressures and growing demands.

Originally the council had a shortfall of £9.1m to reach a balanced budget but this increased to £11.2m in December after it became clear that grant funding support from central government was not as much as anticipated. The council has proposed measures to close that gap to the extent that there is now a remaining £900,000 shortfall that needs to be closed by the time the council sets its budget later in February.

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “We did not receive any additional money from government to close what was a £9.1m gap when we first published our draft budget in late November. Quite the opposite.

“The government has spoken widely about a 6.5 per cent increase of funding to local government. As we’ve said previously, this was a case of smoke and mirrors. This increase assumed councils would take the maximum council tax rise and includes funding announced this time last year. There was nothing new in this sum at all.

“Local government as a whole continues to express deep disappointment having already been viewing the second half of the decade with great concern. The government’s dealings with the sector so far this winter did nothing to alleviate those concerns.

“Our track record of responsible financial management means that Oxfordshire County Council has been in a more resilient position than many other authorities. However, the overall position is extremely challenging. Even now we remain £900,000 short of what we need for a balanced budget.

“Over the coming weeks we will continue to work hard to review our costs and identify further potential measures so we can close the gap and balance the budget.”

It remains the case that budgets in both adults and children’s social care will increase in 2024 with investments to meet pressures outweighing savings proposals.

What are the new proposals?

The new proposals that have been made include:

• A further £3.4m can be added to the budget on a one-off basis for 2024/25 as a result of district councils collecting more in council tax than was originally estimated.
• On the basis of analysis of anticipated demand for adult social care services, £1.5m of demographic of funding that was originally proposed to be added to the budget is now judged not to be required. A total of £8.5m of extra funding for demographic/population growth was included in existing forward plans and this remains. The council has always been responsible in planning ahead over several years to deal with pressure on adult social care stemming from population growth/demographic increases.
• Consumer Price Index Inflation was 3.9 per cent in the year to November 2023, down from 4.6 per cent in October and 6.7 per cent in the 12 months to September 2023. As such, £2.3m that was originally thought to be needed to cover anticipated costs of care packages within adult social care is now assessed not to be needed. A total of £12.3m previously agreed funding remains available to support increases in the cost of care packages from 2024/25.
• When the budget was originally proposed, a £14m investment in children’s services was proposed. However, there were also some savings. These savings are focused on things such as reducing the reliance on expensive agency staff, focusing on keeping families together by preventing the need for children to become looked after by the council, and opening new children's homes/increasing foster capacity to reduce the need for expensive out of county placements. However, half of these savings were not built into overall budget assumptions due to the risk of them not being achieved. Further work has now been done on the achievability of savings and this risk adjustment can be reduced by £1.1m from £5.2m to £4.1m.
• Because of anticipated future reductions in funding there is a need to reduce the size of the organisation in future. A new saving of £1.5m relating to workforce restructuring has been added in 2024/25. Planning for this is underway.

The overall projected budget for 2024/25 is more than £614m. The draft budget is based on a 4.99 per cent council tax rise in 2024/25, with two per cent of this being ringfenced for adult social care. No final decision on council tax or any element of the budget will be taken until 20 February 2024 when all 63 county councillors meet at the annual budget setting meeting of the county council.

Proposals to save more than £9.8 million in 2024/25 were set out in November by the county council as it seeks to set a balanced budget in the face of continued inflationary pressures and growing demands.

The detail revealed by central government to each individual council on local government settlement day (18 December) means that this gap has increased to £11.2m. Grant funding support was not as much as anticipated.

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “We did not receive any additional money to close what was a £9.1m gap when we first published our draft budget in late November.

“The government has spoken widely about a 6.5 per cent increase of funding to local government. Sadly, this is a case of smoke and mirrors. This increase assumes councils take the maximum council tax rise and includes funding announced this time last year. There is nothing new in this sum at all.

“Local government as a whole has expressed its deep disappointment. We are clearly now going to have to take some really tough decisions.”

“As has been known since late November our budget proposals for 2024/25 already include more than £9.8m of savings. The whole of local government was already looking at the second half of the decade with great concern and the government’s announcement on 18 December did nothing to alleviate those concerns.

“Our track record of responsible financial management means that Oxfordshire County Council has been in a more resilient position than many other authorities. However, the overall position is extremely challenging and additional savings will need to be found.”

All local authorities are having to deal with the continued impact of slower than forecast falls in inflation in the UK during 2023 and the consequent continued high levels of costs and prices for energy, fuel, materials and staff costs.

The council also continues to experience demand-led pressures and the effects of the growing nationwide costs of supporting children and young people; the rising cost of social care and care placements for both children and adults; and a national shortage of social care workers leading to a reliance on agency staff and higher costs. The overall projected budget for 2024/25 is more than £614m.

The council’s Performance Scrutiny Committee will be updated on the position at its meeting on 19 January before an updated draft of the budget is presented to the council’s cabinet on 30 January.

The draft budget is based on a 4.99 per cent council tax rise in 2024/25, with two per cent of this being ringfenced for adult social care. No final decision on council tax or any element of the budget will be taken until 20 February 2024 when all 63 county councillors meet at the annual budget setting meeting of the county council.

The gender pay gap is the difference between the average (mean or median) earnings of men and women across a workforce.

 A report to a meeting of full council (all 63 county councillors) in December reported that there had been a decrease in the mean gender pay gap from 2.3% in 2022 to 1.2% in 2023.

Cllr Liz Leffman, the leader of Oxfordshire County Council said: “We are committed to improving our approach to equalities, inclusion and diversity. While councillors were welcoming of news that the gender pay gap is so small and better than nationally there is still a small way to go to equalise the situation. We are keen that there should never be any barriers for women to progress into higher paid roles, or roles where they are under-represented.”

Since 2017, an employer that has a headcount of 250 or more employees on a ‘snapshot date’ has been required to comply with regulations on gender pay gap reporting. Gender pay gap calculations are based on employer payroll data drawn from a specific date each year.

This specific date is called the ‘snapshot date’. The ‘snapshot date’ for Oxfordshire County Council (as with most other public authority employers) is 31 March every year.

The council must report and publish its gender pay gap information by 30 March of the following year.

Proposals to save more than £9.8 million in 2024/25 have been set out by Oxfordshire County Council as it seeks to set a balanced budget in the face of continued inflationary pressures and growing demands.

All local authorities are having to deal with the continued impact of slower than forecast falls in inflation in the UK and the consequent continued high levels of costs and prices for energy, fuel, materials and staff costs.

The council also continues to experience demand-led pressures and the effects of the growing nationwide costs of supporting children and young people; the rising cost of social care and care placements for both children and adults; and a national shortage of social care workers leading to a reliance on agency staff and higher costs.

The last Census confirms Oxfordshire has a growing and ageing population, which will continue to increase demand on services.

All of these pressures combined amount to approximately £29.8m. The council proposes to add to contingency funding for risks including inflation by £6.2m meaning an overall pressure of £36m.

After taking account of proposed savings, funding changes and other factors that help meet pressures, the county council currently has a £9.1 million funding gap.

It will work to close this and present a draft balanced budget in the new year after the government has confirmed its financial settlement for local government before Christmas and further financial information has been received from the city and district councils.

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “Households continue to face huge financial challenges this autumn and we are still in a cost of living emergency. Many of the same factors that are causing those issues are affecting local government, including Oxfordshire County Council, and organisations and businesses up and down the land.

“At the county council, we are on the frontline of supporting the most vulnerable people in our communities. As always, we are committed to helping them and their families and they will always be prioritised when we make decisions on budget.  

“This is reflected in our budget, which contains large investments to meet new pressures in many areas, primarily in adult and children’s social care and services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). To invest in frontline services, we have needed to propose savings in other areas to balance this.

“We seek to manage the council’s finances responsibly and we carefully plan ahead to meet current and future financial challenges. Our budget proposals for 2024/25 include more than £9.8 million of savings. Beyond the budget for 2024/25, it is fair to say that the whole of local government is looking at the second half of the 2020s with great concern as funding issues and challenges look certain to continue.

“Our track record of responsible financial management means that Oxfordshire County Council is in a more resilient and robust position than some other authorities. However, the overall position is still challenging and means we will need to make tough choices.”

New for this year, residents can take part in the budget consultation (for 2024/25) until 10 January using an online budget simulator, which will be hosted on the council’s digital consultation and engagement platform Let’s talk Oxfordshire. The simulator allows residents to try to balance the council’s budget, weighing up tough choices and impacts. People will also be able to comment on the council’s proposed budget with feedback captured using an online form or in writing by Freepost. 

The council is also running three online Oxfordshire Conversations, which offer an opportunity for cabinet representatives to connect with residents on their priorities for local services and explore ideas for how we can make savings to balance our budget. Residents are asked to book.

The events are open to all and will run on the following dates:

• Monday 4 December 1pm to 230pm
•  Wednesday 6 December 7pm to 8:30pm
• Monday 11 December 4:30pm to 6pm.

The council’s budget proposals will be considered by the Performance and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 8 December. Later in December, the government will announce council funding levels as part of its local government finance settlement.

This, alongside confirmation of wider financial resources available and the outcome of the public consultation and engagement, will lead to an updated draft of the budget being presented to the council’s cabinet on 30 January.

Currently, the council’s medium-term financial strategy – agreed in February 2023 – is based on a 4.99 per cent council tax rise in 2024/25, with two per cent of this being ringfenced for adult social care. This rise would be less than the current rate of inflation. No final decision on council tax or any element of the budget will be taken until 20 February 2024 when all 63 county councillors meet at the annual budget setting meeting of the county council.

The council’s cabinet will review a report that outlines the process for developing and agreeing the budget for 2024/25 and the assumptions on which the council’s existing medium-term financial strategy (MTFS), agreed in February 2023, is based.

It also provides an update on financial pressures continuing to impact on the county council and local government as a whole, set in the context of the national economy.

At this early stage in the budget process, the council is forecasting it will need to manage new pressures of around £30 - £40 million in 2024/25.

However, as is the case every year, this figure will be updated as the council moves through the budget process and will need to be considered alongside information on future funding received from central government and other sources.

What are the pressures on the council’s budget?

All local authorities continue to face significant increases in inflation that are driving up costs and price increases in energy, fuel and materials. These remain above those forecast by government.

Along with the rest of local government, the council is also continuing to experience high demand pressures from the growing nationwide costs of supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities; the rising cost of social care and care placements for both children and adults; and a national shortage of social care workers leading to a reliance on agency staff and higher costs.

There remains prolonged uncertainty about the government’s plans for the future relating to local government financing, including a new funding model for adult social care. Meanwhile, there have been substantial reductions in funding to local government over the last decade, which means the ability to make savings is reduced.

Oxfordshire County Council is not an outlier in facing these pressures – councils across the country are facing exactly the same issues.

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “We know that people across our county are still facing huge financial challenges as we move into winter. Prices are continuing to rise and it is still legitimate to say we are in a cost of living crisis. The county council also continues to face major budget pressures.

“As a council, we are on the frontline of supporting the most vulnerable people in our communities. We are committed to them and their families. However, as the cost of doing this rises and our funding fails to keep pace, we are left facing tough choices.

“Each year the council goes through this initial process of identifying new pressures on budgets and the £30 - £40m figure is where we stand at the beginning of the process this year. We will manage the council’s finances responsibly and we are planning ahead carefully to meet current and future financial challenges.

“We will engage with residents about the big issues that matter most to them and their communities. We encourage residents to take part in budget engagement activities this winter. We will use this feedback to help us shape our budget proposals for next year.”

Currently, the council’s medium-term financial strategy – agreed in February 2023 – is based on a 4.99 per cent council tax rise in 2024/25 with two per cent of this being ringfenced for adult social care. This rise would be less than the rate of inflation.

What happens next?

In late November, the county council will publish the detail of its budget proposals for 2024/25.

The proposals will be considered by the Performance and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee during December. The committee’s feedback, alongside the results from the 2023 residents’ survey and wider  budget engagement,  will be reported to the council’s cabinet in January before the budget is set at a meeting with all county councillors on 20 February 2024.

The Oxfordshire Pension Fund is part of the national Local Government Pension Scheme and has been accepted as a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code by the Financial Reporting Council.

The code sets high standards of stewardship for those investing money on behalf of UK savers and pensioners. Becoming a signatory is recognition of the work the fund has undertaken in recent years to become a responsible investor.

Councillor Bob Johnston, Chair of the Oxfordshire Pension Fund Committee, has made the following statement: “I am pleased that the fund has received recognition for its current work. We pledge that we will continue, alongside our investment partners at Brunel, to engage with and challenge the companies we invest into, on a wide range of responsible investment issues, including climate change. We look forward to developing and strengthening our stewardship activities to drive the positive change that will benefit our members.”

To become a signatory, investors need to demonstrate that they are actively using their voice and influence to encourage companies to act in a way that recognises the importance of environmental, social and governance issues, and delivers financial benefits

There are 277 signatories to the code, representing £44.6 trillion assets under management. This includes 189 asset managers, 69 asset owners and 19 service providers. The Oxfordshire Pension Fund is one of 27 organisations that have been added to the signatory list for the first time.

The Oxfordshire Local Government Pension Scheme is hosted by the county council but also represents the district and city councils and organisations such as Oxford Brookes University, academy schools, further education colleges and housing associations.

Find out more about the Oxfordshire Pension Fund’s approach to responsible investment on the county council’s website and the UK Stewardship Code by visiting the Financial Reporting Council’s website.

More information

The Oxfordshire Pension Fund is managed by a committee. The committee, which is comprised of elected council members, is advised by the Director of Finance and an independent financial advisor and is responsible for the pension fund's investment arrangements.

All public sector pension schemes were required under the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 to set up a pension board with effect from 2015/16 to assist the administering authorities of their pension scheme in ensuring compliance with LGPS and other pension regulations. The board's key roles are to support and challenge the Pension Fund Committee as it carries out its statutory responsibilities.

More information about the board, the committee and the work that they do is available on Oxfordshire County Council's website

Click Sign up to hear from us and receive the latest news and updates thanks to our fortnightly newsletter, Your Oxfordshire.

In 2021, Oxfordshire County Council embarked on a four year project to fit all of the county’s streetlights with environmentally friendly light-emitting diodes (LED).

A total of 86 per cent of lights have now been converted. When completed, the £38 million project is expected to lead to energy savings of millions of pounds over the next 20 years.

The LED lights will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide being produced by 70 per cent. Before the conversion programme started, the county’s streetlights accounted for around 7,596 tonnes of CO2 every year – representing nearly 35 per cent of the council’s total emissions.

Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highway Management, said: “The LED streetlighting programme is biggest single project that we, as a council, are undertaking to reduce our own carbon emissions. So I am delighted it is on course to be completed next year, despite problems due to issues such as global material shortages.

“This will significantly help us to achieve our target of becoming a carbon neutral organisation by 2030 and save council taxpayers millions of pounds over the next two decades. It’s a real win-win.”

Last year, 24,383 LED units were fitted meaning that, by the end of March 2023, 51,992 of Oxfordshire’s 60,326 streetlights, wall mounted lights and lights on electricity poles have been converted.

As well as funding the LED conversions, the £38m is also enabling the replacement of 23,000 lighting columns, which are at the end of their structural life. This part of the project is scheduled to be completed by the end of March 2025.

Click Sign up to hear from us and receive the latest news and updates thanks to our fortnightly newsletter, Your Oxfordshire.

Oxfordshire County Council has sent letters to over 4,250 residents eligible for support. These residents will be in receipt of housing benefit but no other relevant state benefits, and therefore do not qualify for the government’s cost of living payments.

Claire Taylor Oxfordshire County Council’s Corporate Director for Customers and Organisational Development and Resources said: “We know it’s a challenging time for many residents. That is why we are using the Household Support Fund, money provided by Department for Work and Pensions, to support residents most in need. 

 “This measure is another way the council is continuing to support residents during the cost of living crisis, and I would encourage everyone eligible to respond to their letter as soon as possible.”

 Each letter has a link to a form where residents can securely enter their bank details. They will also receive a unique reference number to protect against fraud. Residents must fill in this form by 28 March 2023 to claim this money.  

 Anyone with concerns or who is unable to access the online form can contact Oxfordshire County Council’s customer service’s team on 01865 956511.

 The council received £3.3 million from Department for Work and Pensions. This funding is the third round of the Household Support Fund to support vulnerable residents. As well as assisting residents who receive housing benefit, the council is offering support to other vulnerable groups:

• £1.1m food vouchers for children and early years on free school meals during school holidays
• Over £500,000 to city and district councils for local emergency welfare schemes
• £200,000 for residents known to the council with long term health conditions and disabilities
• £200,000 for carers across Oxfordshire

In all cases, residents will be directly contacted about support by their school or the council. Those who need to apply for emergency welfare can apply through their city or district council.

Residents can learn more about help available during the cost of living crisis at Oxfordshire County Council’s dedicated webpage oxfordshire.gov.uk/living

More information

Oxfordshire County Council’s trading standards service is encouraging all residents to ‘Take 5 to Stop Fraud’ during the cost of living crisis.

Stop: Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe

Challenge: Could it be fake? It’s ok to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you

Protect: Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve fallen for a scam and report it to Action Fraud

Report: You can report fraud or cybercrime to Action Fraud any time of the day or night using our online reporting tool, or by calling 0300 123 2040 (Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm).  If you or someone else is in immediate danger or risk of harm dial 999

For advice on any other consumer issue, or to report a matter to trading standards, call the Citizens Advice national consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 or at citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer  

Click Sign up to hear from us and receive the latest news and updates thanks to our fortnightly newsletter, Your Oxfordshire.

The budget has been set in the face of significant pressures on services that stem from escalations in inflation and growing demands – especially in social care for adults and children.

However extra funds will be targeted to promote access to public transport, improve roads, help the lowest income households with cost of living pressures, help for people with special educational needs and disabilities and for community hubs to support families and young people.

The annual budget setting meeting of all 63 county councillors debated  the budget at their meeting today (14 February).

Councillor Liz Leffman, the leader of the county council, said in her statement to the council: “This is a positive budget for Oxfordshire that supports the priorities of the council and reflects the feedback we have heard from our residents.

“We know that households across Oxfordshire face particular financial challenges this year. For many this makes the services we provide even more important

“In the face of political and economic uncertainty we have had to make some difficult choices. We are committing funds to protect frontline services and ensure that the most vulnerable members of our communities continue to receive essential support.”

She added that the budget would “put our finances on a strong and stable footing in the face of future challenges”.

Cllr Leffman said that the inflation that has presented so many difficulties to households in the UK had also presented real challenges to the council in setting a budget – but she said that the council’s cabinet remains committed to its vision for a greener, fairer and healthier county.

She said: “Our priorities are to tackle inequality and support the most vulnerable residents in Oxfordshire by investing in frontline services to take action to address climate change and to put our finances on a stable footing for the challenges ahead.

“We have listened carefully to the feedback from our extensive public engagement and consultation on the budget and the views of Oxfordshire residents are reflected in our proposals.”

Council Tax

The council has agreed a 4.99 per cent Council Tax rise. In the Autumn the government announced that it would allow councils to raise Council Tax by this amount and recommended that they do so – with two per cent ringfenced for adult social care spending.

Cllr Leffman said: “We have thought very hard about the Council Tax increase for 2023/4. In our consultation on the budget, opinion was split on a 4.99 per cent increase to protect adult social care and other services.

“At the same time respondents were very clear that they did not want to see reduced spending on frontline services. We appreciate that any increase at this tough time for households will be hard. At the same time, we know that not funding vital services would have a huge negative impact on some of our most vulnerable residents.

“We therefore proposed to accept the government’s recommendation while investing to make sure we protect the lowest income households from the impact of this increase. We have set aside £2.3m to provide council tax relief and officers are working closely with districts and the city to design this approach.”

Key investments in the areas residents care about

Investments approved in the budget reflect the extensive programme of consultation and engagement that took place in 2022.

• There will be a £13.1m investment for children’s social care including a specific investment of £500,000 to tackle waiting times for Education, Health and Care Plan (ECHP) assessments for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and an additional one-off investment of £500,000 to kick-start the development of community hubs.
• There will be a £14m investment for adult’s social care including £4.4m to deal with increases in demand and complexity and the consequences of paused national reforms.
• Concerns about the availability of public transport options and the maintenance of highways has led to the council investing £2.2m into supporting community public transport and £500,000 to continue the popular combined ticket offer for park and ride that means it costs only £5 for a family of five to park and get a return bus ticket to the city centre.
• There is a further £1m investment in pavements, cycleways and highways.
• An investment of £500,000 is being made to support the expansion of the school streets scheme which has proved very popular in its four trial sites and made it safer and easier for children and parents to walk and cycle to school.
• A further £300,000 is to be invested to help parents and pupils with safe, sustainable, independent travel options for children and young people, encouraging them to walk and cycle to school.

In the council’s capital programme, there is £5.2m to support new children’s homes, £700,000 for statutory health and safety work at Redbridge Waste Recycling Centre and £8m for the expansion of special school capacity.

A further £3m is to be allocated to tackle climate change with a focus on a tree-planting strategy working with city, district and parish councils, with tree cover providing future resilience in the face of rising temperatures.

Meanwhile a £600,000 investment will be made to address severe flooding issues, improving drainage and building community resilience to flooding. There is £1.5m for Thames Towpath bank repairs and reconstruction in Oxford and £5m towards the ‘Vision Zero’ road safety and accessibility programme.

The council’s cabinet today (18 October) reviewed a report that outlined the process for developing and agreeing the budget for 2023/24 and the assumptions on which the existing medium term financial strategy (MTFS), agreed in February 2022, is based. It listed the financial pressures on the county council and local government as a whole, given the national and international economic situation.

All local authorities face significant increases in inflation that are driving up costs and price increases in energy, fuel and materials. This year, the government is not expected to hold a spending review so government funding will not keep pace with inflation, leading to a predicted funding shortfall of over £30 million next year.

The council is also estimating around £20m of other demand-led pressures, which include the growing nationwide costs of supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities; the rising cost of social care and care placements for both children and adults; and a national shortage of social care workers leading to a reliance on agency staff and higher costs.

The recent Census also confirms Oxfordshire has a growing and ageing population, which will continue to increase demand on services. Currently, in total, the council estimates it needs to make savings of around £50m by 2024.

In addition, the financial impact of implementing the government’s adult social care reforms is unclear and could add to these pressures. Finally, on top of this, the long-term financial impact of supporting children with high needs remains uncertain. The support is managed by the council but is funded separately through the government’s dedicated schools grant, which has been consistently less than the sum required in Oxfordshire. In 2022/23 for example, there is a £17.5m shortfall.

Councillor Calum Miller, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “We know that households across our county are facing huge financial challenges this autumn. Rising prices make this a cost of living emergency. The county council is also facing major budget pressures. The government has confirmed it will not be holding a spending review this year to update budgets in light of soaring inflation so we are facing a significant funding shortfall of at least £50 million.

“The county council is on the frontline of supporting the most vulnerable people in our communities. We are committed to them and their families but, as the cost of doing this rises and our funding fails to keep pace, we face tough choices.

“We will manage the council’s finances responsibly and are planning ahead carefully to meet current and future financial challenges. We are engaging with residents about the big issues that matter most to them and their communities and are sharing the challenge of delivering services under these circumstances. We encourage residents to take part in our Oxfordshire Conversation events. We will use this feedback to help us shape our budget proposals for next year.”

Currently, the council’s medium-term financial strategy is based on 2.99 per cent council tax rises in coming years with one per cent of this being ringfenced for adult social care. However, council tax and budget proposals generally are reviewed annually and for 2023/24 would not be agreed until February 2023.

During the second half of November, the county council will publish the detail of its budget proposals for 2023/24 and the public will be asked to give views as part of a consultation. The proposals will be considered by the Performance and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee during December. The committee’s views and the public consultation results will be reported to the council’s cabinet in January before the budget is set at a meeting with all county councillors in February 2023.

Oxfordshire Conversations

The county council had planned to run a series of public events called Oxfordshire Conversations in September, which were postponed as part of the mourning period for Her Majesty the Queen. We have rescheduled three online events in October where residents can discuss the big issues that matter to them and their communities. Residents will be able to ask the county council decision makers their burning questions and share their priorities to help shape the council’s budget during these tough times.

We are asking residents to book a place on Let’s talk Oxfordshire.

Events taking place:

• Wednesday 19 October, 7pm - 8.30pm, online (Microsoft Teams)
• Thursday 20 October, 2.30pm - 4pm, online (Microsoft Teams)
• Friday 21 October, 2.30pm - 4pm, online (Microsoft Teams).

The council’s cabinet will review a report that outlines the process for developing and agreeing the budget for 2023/24 and the assumptions on which the existing medium term financial strategy (MTFS), agreed in February 2022, is based. It lists the financial pressures on the county council and local government as a whole, given the national and international economic situation.

All local authorities face significant increases in inflation that are driving up costs and price increases in energy, fuel and materials. This year, the government is not expected to hold a spending review so government funding will not keep pace with inflation, leading to a predicted funding shortfall of over £30 million next year.

The council is also estimating around £20m of other demand-led pressures, which include the growing nationwide costs of supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities; the rising cost of social care and care placements for both children and adults; and a national shortage of social care workers leading to a reliance on agency staff and higher costs.

The recent Census also confirms Oxfordshire has a growing and ageing population, which will continue to increase demand on services. Currently, in total, the council estimates it needs to make savings of around £50m by 2024.

In addition, the financial impact of implementing the government’s adult social care reforms is unclear and could add to these pressures. Finally, on top of this, the long-term financial impact of supporting children with high needs remains uncertain. The support is managed by the council but is funded separately through the government’s dedicated schools grant, which has been consistently less than the sum required in Oxfordshire. In 2022/23 for example, there is a £17.5m shortfall.

Councillor Calum Miller, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “We know that households across our county are facing huge financial challenges this autumn. Rising prices make this a cost of living emergency. The county council is also facing major budget pressures. The government has confirmed it will not be holding a spending review this year to update budgets in light of soaring inflation so we are facing a significant funding shortfall of at least £50 million.

“The county council is on the frontline of supporting the most vulnerable people in our communities. We are committed to them and their families but, as the cost of doing this rises and our funding fails to keep pace, we face tough choices.

“We will manage the council’s finances responsibly and are planning ahead carefully to meet current and future financial challenges. We are engaging with residents about the big issues that matter most to them and their communities and are sharing the challenge of delivering services under these circumstances. We encourage residents to take part in our Oxfordshire Conversation events. We will use this feedback to help us shape our budget proposals for next year.”

Currently, the council’s medium-term financial strategy is based on 2.99 per cent council tax rises in coming years with one per cent of this being ringfenced for adult social care. However, council tax and budget proposals generally are reviewed annually and for 2023/24 would not be agreed until February 2023.

During the second half of November, the county council will publish the detail of its budget proposals for 2023/24 and the public will be asked to give views as part of a consultation. The proposals will be considered by the Performance and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee during December. The committee’s views and the public consultation results will be reported to the council’s cabinet in January before the budget is set at a meeting with all county councillors in February 2023.

Oxfordshire Conversations

The county council had planned to run a series of public events called Oxfordshire Conversations in September, which were postponed as part of the mourning period for Her Majesty the Queen. We have rescheduled three online events in October where residents can discuss the big issues that matter to them and their communities. Residents will be able to ask the county council decision makers their burning questions and share their priorities to help shape the council’s budget during these tough times.

We are asking residents to book a place on Let’s talk Oxfordshire.

Events taking place:

• Wednesday 19 October, 7pm - 8.30pm, online (Microsoft Teams)
• Thursday 20 October, 2.30pm - 4pm, online (Microsoft Teams)
• Friday 21 October, 2.30pm - 4pm, online (Microsoft Teams).

Challenges include uncertainty over government funding for all local authorities, the ongoing impact of COVID-19 that continues to place pressures on the county council’s day to day services and affect its income streams, alongside a growing and ageing population, which puts more pressure on budgets and services. Particular pressures, with predicted future funding shortfalls, are being felt within social care for both adults and children.

The budget proposals focus on placing funding where it is most needed and investing in services that will have a positive long-term impact for local communities.

Councillor Liz Leffman, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: “Following the local elections in May 2021, the Oxfordshire Fair Deal Alliance formed to lead the county council. Our vision is to lead positive change to make Oxfordshire a greener, fairer county. We have developed nine priorities to deliver this aim. These include putting action to address the climate emergency at the heart of our work, tackling inequalities and supporting carers and the social care system. We have looked for ways to support these priorities in this, our first budget.

“We are committed to the responsible management of the council’s finances. To reach our goal of a balanced budget for 2022/23, we are planning ahead carefully to meet current and future financial challenges. We are also working on identifying savings across the council to enable us to invest in our priorities and meet our demand pressures.

“Challenges include uncertainty over government funding, the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and an ageing and growing population, which puts more pressure on budgets and services.

“The government has announced some new grant funding for local government, which is welcome news and has the potential to allow us to invest in key priority areas. This includes £8 million of grant funding for pressures related to COVID-19. However, the detail of what funding we will receive remains unclear. Given the level of remaining uncertainties, including around COVID-19, we will continue to take a cautious and measured approach towards managing our budgets to deliver for residents today and in the future.”

Councillor Calum Miller, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance explained: “In total, we have identified we need £21 million of new funding for 2022/23 to meet inflationary and demographic pressures, additional demand and to fund priority investments.

“We want funding to go where it is most needed and invest in services that will have a positive long-term impact for our local communities. To do that we plan to make £13m of new savings in 2022/23 focusing on making services more efficient while protecting the frontline.

“Social care for adults and children is an area where we are experiencing additional demands and financial challenges as a result. We are predicting significant funding shortfalls in the coming years. Without funding to meet these shortfalls from the government, council tax will have to rise to meet these costs.

“In the autumn spending review, the government encouraged councils to raise council tax by an additional one per cent to help pay for adult social care services. Last year, the council had already budgeted for a 3.99 per cent increase to council tax in 2022/23. We know increasing council tax by 4.99 per cent overall will put additional strain on household finances at a very challenging time. However, without funding from government to meet the rising costs of providing adult social care, we are left with no choice but to raise these funds to make sure we can provide social care for some of our most vulnerable residents.”

Cllr Leffman added: “Protecting those in need will always be our priority. Budget pressures mean we will have to continue to find ways to save money while protecting frontline services – moving services online, where appropriate, and generating more income.

“We are proposing both investments in priority areas and savings, and consulting the public on what we know now. As we move through the winter, the situation may change as we get to know more detail about the financial support available from the government.

“In the meantime, we want to hear from residents, businesses and others on our proposals. This will help inform our decisions during the budget process.”

Key investments linked to priorities and to meet newly identified pressures

• There is a proposal to newly invest £824,000 in 2022/23 into climate action and resilience measures.
  • The council plans to support community activity to cut carbon emissions, develop a renewable energy network and help the transition to electric vehicles (EVs), as well as increasing its capacity as the lead flood authority for Oxfordshire.
  • It plans to develop a countywide nature recovery strategy, develop a tree and woodland strategy and support the development of a new local nature partnership for Oxfordshire.
  • The council also proposes to invest in supporting the retrofitting of residential homes to improve energy efficiency and support the delivery of a zero-carbon route-map for the county.
  • A further element would be to work with partners to expand EV charging capacity across the county and sustain the benefits of Project Local Energy Oxfordshire (LEO). Project LEO is running energy trials in the county to help build a greener (zero carbon), more flexible and fairer electricity system.

• A total of £4.4m extra is being invested in adult social care to meet inflationary costs, which are predicted to rise across the care sector in the UK. This will be raised using the additional proposed adult social care precept of 1 per cent.

• £800,000 has been identified to reduce the contribution rate that those in receipt of disability benefits have to pay towards assessed care needs. This will allow recipients to keep a little more money each week to spend on well-being and household expenses.

• A total of £1.2m extra is being invested in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) with further investments leading to a total of £2.1m by 2026. An annual 10 - 12 per cent increase in demand for education health and care plans (EHCPs) and the number of approved plans which require an annual review has created a pressure across the service including case workers, educational psychologists and quality and advocacy support. Additional capacity is needed to meet expected standards. There is also an investment in commissioning SEND placements.

• COVID-19 has led to more children being in care placements than previously expected and for longer periods of time. There has also been an unusually large increase in the price for a placement and this links to delays in courts and changes in individual circumstances. A total of £1.15m is proposed to meet this pressure rising to £1.45m by 2026. A further £174,000 is earmarked to support those 18 year-olds leaving the care system.

Other proposals

• The council’s aims to make cycling, walking and public transport easier and more accessible to everyone and, as a result, reduce car journeys across the county. In turn this will contribute to net-zero targets and help tackle climate change. A total of £130,000 in extra traffic enforcement income is being included for 2022/23 - rising to £580,000 by 2026. The council is expected to be invited to put in a bid to central government in the spring to take on enforcement of moving traffic offences that are currently dealt with by the police. Cameras would be installed to enable enforcement and there would be fines issued to offenders. Councils already practice these enforcement powers in London and some parts of Wales. It is currently anticipated this new system would be in action in autumn 2022. All income would be spent on highway and transport related services.

• The council wants to reduce congestion and pollution and increase the speed of public transport. One method of achieving this is by encouraging more people to use park and ride and avoid driving into Oxford city. There are no plans to increase charges at park and rides, however the council is planning increases on pay and display in the city. This change would come into effect on 1 April. Two traffic related changes are based on these objectives. This would lead to a total of £150,000 in income in 2022/23 and a further £150,000 in 2023/24 – totalling £300,000 overall. The council is also planning to install cameras to undertake enforcement on existing bus lanes. Offenders would be fined. All income would be spent on highway and transport related services.
• A home to school transport review will take place to look at how money is spent including: optimising routes to reduce emissions and make savings and running services more efficiently and ensuring eligibility is tightly managed; adjusting the cost of the spare seat scheme to reflect the increasing cost of providing this service; reviewing areas of discretionary spend and adapting policies to bring Oxfordshire more in line with other parts of the country. A £1m saving will be made in 2022/23 against an overall budget of £25.7m. However, at the same time £1.3m is being added to the home to school transport budget linked to population increases – meaning the home to school transport budget will rise overall by £0.3m.

Council tax

The council is proposing a 4.99 per cent council tax rise (3 per cent of which is an adult social care precept and must be spent on adult social care). The county council’s share of council tax for a Band D property (the average council tax band) in 2021/22 was £1,573.11. A 4.99 per cent increase is equal to a £78.50 per year or £1.51 per week increase in council tax on a Band D property.

Have your say

People can have their say on the council’s budget proposals, including its proposed council tax level for 2022/23 and the Cabinet’s priorities between 2 December 2021 and 5 January 2022 by visiting letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/budgetconsultation and completing the online survey.

The feedback from the budget consultation will be considered by the council’s Cabinet on 18 January 2022 and the council will decide and set its budget on 8 February 2022. Feedback will also help develop a new strategic plan for the council.

It has warned ministers that, without this funding, council taxes will have to rise to meet adult social care costs.

The number of children with special educational needs, and their complexity of need, continues to grow, with demand far outstripping budgets. Meanwhile there are concerns that the recently announced government funding and policy proposals relating to adult social care do not address the immediate and long-term issues and may be unworkable due to these ongoing pressures.

In addition, in children’s social care local government is seeing a rise in the complexity and costs of supporting vulnerable children and families.

Councillor Liz Leffman, the leader of Oxfordshire County Council, has sent letters to Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week outlining concerns ahead of the government’s Autumn budget announcements.

Need to address urgent funding needs

Councillor Callum Miller, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “Adult social care is facing an immediate crisis. The numbers simply do not add up here in Oxfordshire or elsewhere in the country. We welcome the start that has been made to address the challenges in Adult Social Care but none of the recent announcements address today’s funding pressures – and, in some cases, they increase them.

“In September the government said that current ‘demographic and cost pressures will be met through Council Tax, social care precept, and long-term efficiencies’. In Oxfordshire this equates to £9m to meet demographic pressures and potentially a further £6m to meet anticipated inflationary pressures. Unless there is further funding in the Spending Review, we will have to follow the government’s instruction and increase further the charges to our residents through council tax or social care precept. The only alternative would be to cut the adult social care budgets in real terms, with a direct impact on the care we can afford to provide.”

Funding challenges for children's services

Councillor Miller continued: “Reform is urgently needed on a national basis to provide adequate special educational needs funding. Demand for funding is unsustainable. In Oxfordshire we estimate that our county requires £13.8 million extra in funding to maintain current provision level.

“In children’s social care we are predicting that we will need an additional £2m - £3m of spending to respond to the increased demand that has built up during the pandemic. In addition, children placement cost rises for all councils are significantly higher than inflation. Investment is needed to address the placement sufficiency challenges, the lack of availability of suitable quality placements which meet children’s needs, and prohibitive costs charged by the independent sector. We estimate that increased care costs will add another £4.9m of pressures to our council budget. This national situation needs urgent action.

Invest now and transform adult social care

Addressing the adult social care challenge, Councillor Miller said “An increasing number of people both nationally and indeed here in Oxfordshire are waiting for a care assessment, care, and for their support arrangements to start or a review of their support plans because of ongoing and exacerbating staff shortages. If this is not addressed as a matter of urgency, local authorities nationally and here in Oxfordshire will be unable to undertake the additional assessments required to enable people to begin working towards the cap.

“In terms of the Health and Social Care Levy, it is our understanding that adult social care will have access to £5.4bn, out of a total of £36bn, raised through the levy nationally, a significant proportion of which will be attributed to meeting the costs associated with the set-up and implementation of the care cap and moving local authorities towards paying a fair cost of care. This will not assist in stabilising the workforce or meeting that increased demand for support either here in Oxfordshire or elsewhere.

“On a national basis the government needs to tip the balance by putting prevention, early intervention and wellbeing front and centre of policy and spending priorities. Otherwise, we risk pushing social care into the realms of simply being a crisis support service.

“This winter we think government should provide an additional £3bn nationally to stabilise care supply and build up and strengthen care at home, enhance community support, meet unmet needs, and mitigate ongoing, intensifying recruitment and retention challenges and provide a significant package of support for unpaid carers.

“We believe there should be a new employment deal for care staff across the country, including a workforce strategy, adult social care minimum wage, enhanced training, development and career progression, recognition, and regulation. This must include the introduction of a specific adult social care living wage.

“It is also our strong belief that there should be a significant uplift in funding for local authorities to enable them to fully deliver on their statutory duties.

“Short-termism costs more, has a negative impact on people’s lives and stores up problems for the future. We urge government to invest now, transform social care and most importantly people’s lives for the better.”

The council’s Cabinet will meet on 19 January to formally propose the budget ahead of the annual meeting of all 63 county councillors on 9 February when the budget will be debated

Details of savings and investments were published in December.

The council is dedicated to investing in services that will have positive long-term impact for local communities. The budget proposals reflect this, with more than £25m of additional funding included. Some of this funding has been previously agreed, but £9.5m of this is newly proposed for 2021/22 to help meet additional demands, including within adult social care.

A total of £19.6m of savings are being proposed in total across all services. £14.6m of these savings were already planned and are centred on the transformation of services to make them more efficient while protecting the frontline.

Council Tax proposals

Proposals include a 1.99 per cent rise in basic council tax rise, plus an extra one per cent which would be required to be spent on adult social care under national rules, making a total of 2.99%. 

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: “Protecting and investing in frontline services is our priority as we seek to become ever more efficient as an organisation while providing high-quality key services during the pandemic and beyond. Budget pressures mean we will have to continue to find ways to save money while protecting frontline services – moving services online, where appropriate, and generating more income.

“In late November, the government announced it would once again give councils the flexibility to raise council tax by an additional three per cent (a precept) over the next two years to help pay for adult social care services. This is on top of a maximum 1.99 per cent ‘core’ council tax that can be charged. We have chosen to propose levying one per cent of that precept.

“This will allow us to make small investments into key priority areas, such as our youth offer. However, given the level of remaining uncertainties, including around COVID-19, we will continue to take a cautious and measured approach towards managing our budgets. We are very conscious that the need for extra funding has to be balanced against the pressures on residents' incomes during the pandemic. This is not an easy time financially, or otherwise, for businesses, residents and families.

Councillor David Bartholomew, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, added: “While government rules permit an additional three per cent council tax rise for adult social care on top of the basic council tax, we are very mindful of residents’ household budgets as they seek to manage their daily lives in these challenging times. We are proposing to levy just one per cent of the adult social care precept, which leaves us able to plan on the basis of levying the remaining two per cent for the 2022/23 financial year, if needed. 

“Such principles will always be at the fore of our thinking and judgements. We believe we have struck the right balance this year. Whether dealing with the effects of a pandemic or otherwise, we have a responsibility to manage the money our local taxpayers contribute to our budgets in a careful and measured way.”

Next year and beyond, the council is committing to strengthening its approach towards climate action, an enhanced focus on addressing inequality, developing its youth offer and delivering its COVID-19 recovery strategy.

A total of £19.6m of savings are being proposed in total across all services. £14.6m of these savings were already planned and are centred on the transformation of services to make them more efficient while protecting the frontline.

The council is also dedicated to investing in services that will have positive long-term impact for local communities. The budget proposals reflect this with more than £25m of additional funding included. Some of this funding has been previously agreed but £9.5m of this is newly proposed for 2021/22 to help meet additional demands, including within adult social care.

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: “Protecting those in need will always be our priority. Budget pressures mean we will have to continue to find ways to save money while protecting frontline services – moving services online, where appropriate, and generating more income.

“Alongside all local authorities, we face a loss of income and other impacts on services due to COVID-19 and the uncertainty of government funding as a whole. Added to this, our population is growing and ageing at one of the fastest rates in our history, which puts more pressure on our budgets and services.

“In late November, the government announced it would once again give councils the flexibility to raise council tax by an additional three per cent (a precept) over the next two years to help pay for adult social care services. This is on top of a maximum 1.99 per cent ‘core’ council tax that can be charged. It also confirmed that there would be additional funding for COVID-19 into the first quarter of 2021/22 and the social care grant would continue.

“This is welcome news and has the potential to allow us to make small investments into key priority areas, such as our youth offer. However, given the level of remaining uncertainties, including around COVID-19, we will continue to take a cautious and measured approach towards managing our budgets. We must ensure future funding is in place if we need it. Responsible and careful financial forward planning over the last decade has meant that the council is in a more sustainable and resilient position to meet our budget pressures.

“We still need to make additional savings on top of those already agreed for our 2021/22 budget. Some are no surprises – we said we had found ways to operate better and more efficiently so we will make sure we do.

“We are proposing both savings and investments in priority areas and consulting the public on what we know now. As we move through the winter, the situation may change as our knowledge of financial support available from central government increases. In the meantime, we want to hear people’s views on our proposals – which include a council tax rise of 1.99 per cent with the option of an additional increase, up to three per cent, for adult social care. This will help inform our decisions during the budget process.”

New investments

Each year as part of its budget process the council identifies any new pressures that need to be funded and new priorities. The council needs to meet annual inflation costs and plan for the increase in demand for adult social care due to continued rises in life expectancy and long-term population growth.

Proposed investments include:

• A total of £1m long term funding would be invested in expanding the youth offer in Oxfordshire. A study is due to report in the Spring on the needs of young people and how the wider partnership of the voluntary, community and public services can best provide support. An additional £500,000 of one-off accelerator funding will also be provided to develop sustainable long terms approaches and help tackle the impacts of the pandemic on young people.

• An extra £4m will be added to the adult social care budget for 2021/22. This includes a total of £1.35m for managing risks such as provider sustainability.

• The Better Care Fund (BCF) is a programme spanning both the NHS and local government. It seeks to join up health and care services so that people can manage their own health and wellbeing and live independently in their communities for as long as possible. For 2020/21, the county council agreed with health partners that £1.2m of the improved BCF for Oxfordshire would be used to support activities agreed to deliver better outcomes over the winter period in the county. However, it was one-off funding. The council is proposing to continue the funding for 2021/22, which would be used to support measures to help people be discharged from hospital and enable new ways of working and better outcomes for residents.

• The number of adults of working age with physical disabilities has increased in 2020/21 and there are forecast overspends for both care at home and for residential care. While this is being managed within pooled resources between the NHS and council in 2020/21, it is not anticipated that this can be maintained in the longer run. Pending a review of the needs and activity for these service users, £750,000 has been proposed to support expenditure on assessed care needs from 2021/22.

• The county council has been part of a joint partnership to procure and manage services for single homeless people in Oxfordshire since it was formed in 2017. A further one-off contribution to the partnership of £500,000 was included in the budget, with £250,000 of this allocated for 2020/21 and the same in 2021/22. The council is proposing to continue the council’s support for the partnership from 2022/23.

• During the period of the pandemic, more people have chosen to take up drugs and alcohol residential rehabilitation services and this has led to the council proposal to put £50,000 more into existing services.

• An extra £400,000 is proposed for highway maintenance focused on additional resource for vegetation and drainage clearance plus supporting the roll out of a trial currently being undertaken enabling parish councils to implement 20mph schemes in their villages.

• A £300,000 fund to support innovative community-developed projects and activities that improve people’s health and wellbeing in Oxfordshire is proposed. A total of £150,000 of this will be new funding and £150,000 will come from existing public health budgets.

• An extra £330,000 will be invested into children’s services on increasing early intervention services, increasing the skill base of children’s social care workers and special educational needs related services.

• A total of £100,000 would be invested in issues linked to digital exclusion.

• A total of £81,000 would be invested in domestic violence services and £150,000 into apprenticeships.

Proposed savings

Some of the proposed savings at the start of this year’s budget are listed below. The council does not set its final budget until February 2021. These proposals may change once further financial information is received from the government and consultation responses from the public have been considered.

• The council proposes to carry out more checks to make sure companies who have been granted permits to carry out roadworks finish on time. This will ensure that late finishers are fined (up to £10,000 per day). It is calculated that this would generate £225,000 in 2021/22.

• The council is carrying out a review of its winter service. This would save £100,000. This would not change the current network of roads treated and there would be no change for the winter of 2020/21.

• For adults with care support needs, the council intends to focus on maximising the use of existing contracted capacity and looking at creative ways to meet needs at a lower cost. This would be done while also helping residents to live as independently as possible. It is anticipated that it will be possible to save £1m (around 1 per cent of the total budget) in each of the adults with care and support needs and Better Care Fund pooled budgets in 2021/22.

• A £430,000 increase was planned in the waste management budget in 2021/22 due to the forecast rise in the number of homes in the county. It was expected this would to lead to more waste. However, new homes have not been built at the predicted pace and this investment can be deferred beyond 2021/22.

• A set of projects are underway to focus on outcomes for children the county council cares for to improve the ability to meet their needs through local placements, particularly children with complex needs. This includes two projects – one looking at providing the right type of foster placements for children and the other looking at the provision of small residential homes (two to three beds). The aim is to be able to provide the placements within Oxfordshire wherever possible. This would save £1.02m.

• Funding was originally allocated for growth in demand for school transport, based on new build housing. However, housing hasn’t been developed as quickly as anticipated. As such the council can save £700,000 in 2021/22.

• The county council will benefit from £1.66m of savings it has been able to make through the retendering of its insurance contract. This is based on an analysis of amounts that have been required in recent years.

• Based on activity in 2020/21 and looking forward to longer-lasting changed ways of working in 2021/22, the council estimates it will be able to save £750,000 on staff travel budgets and £100,000 on printing. This would be closely monitored throughout the year.

• The county council’s property team will save £1.95m in 2021/22 rising to £3.3m in 2022/23. The focus in 2021/22 will be on joint working with Cherwell District Council to blend the two property teams and jointly find more efficient ways of working.

The council’s annual net budget in 2020/21 has been £474.6m. In 2021/22, taking into account all savings and investments it is currently forecast to be £485m.

Have your say

During December, the council will hear about local government settlement funding levels. The council does not finally set its budget until 9 February, although the Cabinet and scrutiny committees will discuss the details of the proposals during December and January.

You can have your say on these initial budget proposals between 16 December and 13 January by visiting www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/budgetconsultation

The council’s Cabinet will be asked to approve a series of measures to meet the currently projected shortfall for 2020/21 at a special meeting on Tuesday, August 18.

Councils all over England are experiencing COVID-related budget issues and, like the county council, many are revisiting the budget they set in February for the 2020/21 financial year. There is currently a projected £16m shortfall at the county council as a result of loss of income and extra expenditure stemming from the pandemic.

Protecting frontline services

The council is proposing to take the opportunity to take a fresh look at services and find new ways of delivering them rather than following the route of cutting services .

COVID has presented opportunities for adopting new ways of working and making greater use of digital technology. For example, 3,500 members of council staff who normally work in the office are continuing to work remotely from home, which has resulted in a saving in utility costs across council buildings.

Recommendations to the Cabinet focus include not filling vacant posts, delaying the purchase of some new equipment and simplifying how the council delivers new programmes. 

Oxfordshire County Council is currently reporting additional costs and lost income of approximately £51 million as a result of coronavirus. The council has received almost £31 million to date in grant funding from the Government. The Government’s new Income Guarantee Scheme for sales, fees and charges is expected to provide around a further £4m during the year. This means the overall shortfall this financial year is currently forecast to be £16 million. The cabinet will be asked to approve around £15m of savings for 2020/21 to cover the majority of this shortfall – acknowledging that the overall situation could change for better for worse as the financial year progresses further .

Councils have played a critical role

Councillor David Bartholomew, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “We are proposing to take a careful and measured approach and are seeking to protect frontline services as much as we can.

“Throughout the pandemic, the council has gone the extra mile to support local residents on a daily basis. We have made rapid adjustments to meet new demands - such as establishing dedicated customer contact teams to support the most vulnerable – and have stepped up work in critical frontline services, such as ensuring schools are kept open for vulnerable children and those of key workers.

“We have done this without question in order to support and protect the most vulnerable in our communities. But, like other local authorities across England, we now find ourselves in a position whereby we are being asked to cover a significant proportion of the cost for this. In taking these steps to balance our books, we are doing our utmost to minimise the impact on our frontline services and to protect those who so badly need our support.

“While ensuring we meet our legal duty to balance our budget, we are continuing to work with councils across England to call on the Government for further funding for councils at this critical time.”

Future years and further challenges

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, the leader of the county council added: “Further financial pressures will follow as we restart services in a COVID-compliant manner, such as operating home to school transport, with staggered school opening times and social distancing measures in place.

“The possibility of a second wave of the virus later this year, particularly if combined with a flu epidemic, would also place a huge strain on existing resources, especially if lockdown is required and services have to be stood down again.

“Moreover, there may well be significant costs in future years arising from COVID as a result of reduced business rates and council tax. When we get to Winter and need to set a budget for 2021/22 and beyond, it is likely to be extremely challenging.

“There is an ongoing debate about how local government services in Oxfordshire could be delivered differently in the future to protect ourselves better from financial challenges. The Government is producing a White Paper in the Autumn about local recovery and the shape of local government across England. It will be interesting to see what emerges from that, and Oxfordshire’s councils are already engaging with each other in anticipation of that White Paper.”

Measures being proposed to save £16m from the 2020/21 budget.

Measures being proposed to the August 18 cabinet include:

• A potential £306,000 saving in utility bills. This is the result of many of the county council’s buildings being closed for several months due to COVD-19, and to anticipated increases in utility rates not materialising.
• A saving of £400,000 is expected as a result of reduced spend on travel, printing, stationery, expenses and other areas.
• In Adult Social Care, additional funding from the Hospital Discharge Scheme will save £1.3m. Additional funding from NHS England is expected to be made available nationally to support the on-going cost following discharges from hospital since 19 March 2020. This means council funding for care now being met by the Hospital Discharge Scheme (HDS) can be released on a temporary basis. Responsibility for on-going assessed care needs will revert to the council with assessed contributions from people towards the cost of their care once the HDS ends.
• The total council contribution to the Better Care Fund pooled budget in 2020/21 is £102m. The Better Care Fund (BCF) is a programme spanning both the NHS and local government which seeks to join up health and care services so that people can manage their own health and wellbeing, and live independently in their communities for as long as possible. By increasing the focus on maximising use of residential and nursing beds available through existing contracts, minimising the length of any vacancies, and looking for creative ways to meet needs at lower cost while also helping service users be as independent as possible, it is anticipated that it may be possible to reduce spend by around 1% in the second half of 2020/21. This would save £500,000.
• In Children’s Social Care a total of £903,000 will be saved due to a revised model of implementation for the new family safeguarding model of delivering care, which is being introduced during 2020/21. A delayed implementation from summer to autumn due to COVID-19 has meant lower running costs in this year; redesigning and reducing set-up costs; reducing the project team that is supporting the implementation. However, the council is maintaining its frontline investment in the new service so that it can still improve services for children and families.
• The council allocated £200,000 in 2020/21 to carry out an assessment and redesign of youth services. COVID-19 has prevented the council from progressing this work as services for children in need of immediate help and protection had to be prioritised during the lockdown; while youth groups were not been operational in this period. However, the council has designed a proposal for the assessment that can take place this year, for which £25,000 is earmarked, and it will be looking for groups/organisations to bid to undertake this work. A saving of £175,000 will therefore be achieved.
• Community Support Services have remained open throughout the coronavirus pandemic which has required the use of different approaches to support people to meet social distancing requirements. During the remainder of 2020/21, this has enabled the council to identify an alternative base for its community support service in Didcot which has merged with Wantage. Everybody who received a service at Didcot will still do so. This will save £75,000, but also offers the opportunity to explore alternative delivery models for Community Support Services in the future.
• In highways and transport, £500,000 relating to various schemes will be charged to capital (project) budgets instead of from day to day spend in revenue budgets.

• Extra money as a one-off was allocated for 2020/21 for additional vegetation clearance and sign cleaning. A total of £175,000 of additional 2020/21 allocation is being offered back as a potential saving. This does not affect the council’s normal level of service.
• Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue propose to save £200,000 by delaying plans to replace older diesel vehicles with electric vehicles by one year. The ambition is to have a full fleet of electric cars for general and operational use. It will have no impact on service delivery, but will delay the reduction in emissions from the fleet.
• Last year Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue changed how it worked, increasing the flexibility of the service to meet demand at different times of the day. This trial has allowed it to delay the delivery of one fire engine this year – leading to a 2020/21 saving proposal of £130,000. The service is confident it has the resilience to support this for an additional 12 months.

• A review of roles in the council’s Road Agreements Team would contribute to a £230,000 saving if agreed. This is about using income the council receives in a different way. Income will be used to fund some junior posts instead of the council’s base budget. Part of the saving would also be met from a change to how the council supports its Lead Local Flood Authority work.

Full details of the budget proposals can be found here

A budget for 2021/22 and beyond will not be proposed until Winter and will not be set until February 2021. These proposals relate only to the current financial year.

The total net budget for Oxfordshire County Council in 2020/21, as set in February 2020, is £476m.

The plans include community support for people who have become vulnerable in their community so they can live independently for longer, and more help for struggling families to reduce the chances of children having to go into care.

Funding for children and adult social services will increase by £30 million next year, including an extra £8.1 million from the government. This money is needed to support an increase in adult social care needs for both older and disabled people, as well as the increasing number of child protection cases, which have grown in line with national trends.

The budget proposals also include investment in infrastructure across the county, including an extra £50 million for new and existing schools over ten years, with most of the funding coming from housing developers to meet the need for more pupil places in Oxfordshire.

A total of £30 million will be spent in 2020/21 on repairs to roads, bridges, drainage and footways across Oxfordshire’s towns and villages, with major schemes scheduled in Banbury, Abingdon and Witney.

New funding of £3 million per year will improve local road safety and accessibility, including new pedestrian crossings, improved junctions and better bus stop facilities. These measures are designed to encourage walking and cycling as part of the council’s commitment to improving air quality and active lifestyles.

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: “This is an investment budget that will help us meet the needs of residents and communities as the county changes in the future. We plan to redesign services with a greater emphasis on preventing problems before they happen.

“We want to do much more than simply manage the growing demands on council services – we want to help all of our Oxfordshire communities to thrive. That means addressing the real causes of that demand for our services so children have the best start in life and older and disabled people can live as independently as possible.”

Responding to climate change is a key feature of the council’s budget, including support for sustainable travel such as improving park and ride services on the A40, and the replacement of over 50,000 streetlights with energy-efficient LEDs. However, all aspects of the budget have to reflect the climate change agenda and how the county council will meet its aim to be carbon neutral by 2030.

The budget includes ‘invest to save’ proposals totalling £4.8 million across council services, many of which would pay back within a year and lead to further savings of £4.8 million by year four. There are also measures totalling £9.1 million in 2020/21 that will help reduce demand for services in the future.

This approach is part of a council-wide programme of service redesign and organisational change, which enables the council to deliver savings in the future while still improving the services that residents want and need.

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, added: “We’ve grasped an opportunity to invest. We are being ambitious about improving outcomes for residents and communities in the future. There remains a lot of uncertainty about funding for local government in the longer term, but I strongly believe this investment budget gives us a solid foundation to manage our finances during the uncertain times ahead.

“We know that the people of Oxfordshire want us to continue to invest in our roads and transport infrastructure – both maintenance and improving how they work for roads users, including for bus journeys, cycling and walking. This is an important part of our overall commitment to reducing carbon and making our contribution to tackling climate change.”

As part of this invest-to-save approach, the county council will provide support for informal care networks in communities that will help older and disabled people live independently. By increasing the ability of communities to provide informal support, the aim is to manage the long-term demand for social care and target resources at those who need help the most.

Prudent budget management, long-term uncertainty

The county council continues to face long-term financial pressures, with government having reduced funding for local authorities since 2010. At the same time, more people have needed support from social services.

To ensure it can continue to invest in services and infrastructure, while meeting the needs of the most vulnerable people in Oxfordshire, the county council has increased Council Tax by 1.99 percent, with a further two percent ‘precept’ – an additional increase allowed by the government on to pay for the growing number of people requiring adult social services. (Raising council tax by two percent or more requires a local referendum.)

The continuation of the Council Tax precept and other government sources from previous years has enabled the council to consider these investments in Investing now puts us in a better position to make further savings in the years ahead, as we expect to have to do.

Budget briefing

This is a summary of the most significant elements of the budget – investments in services and savings. Councillors have approved two sets of budget proposals: the revenue budget that pays for day-to-day services, including the ‘invest-to-save’ measures; and the capital programme that provides long-term investment in transport, schools, broadband and other infrastructure. Full details of the revenue and capital budget proposals below in Further Information.

Family safeguarding model

Initial investment of £2.3 million in a new approach to supporting families in difficulties, including parenting, substance abuse, domestic violence and mental health. The new model was developed in Hertfordshire and has been independently assessed as a successful way to improve the chances of keeping families together safely. Net savings are projected at £1.8 million by year four.

Foster families

In line with national trends, the numbers of young people in care have risen in recent years requiring an increase in fostering and residential placements. The county council proposes to invest £1 million in internal fostering services to increase the number of local foster carers, including increasing support and payments to foster families.

Community networks

An investment of £1.8 million in community networks, capacity, winter projects and alternatives to formal care, funded from the improved Better Care Fund to enable people to be better able to support themselves and help communities to help the most vulnerable locally. Developing these informal care networks is critical to managing future demand for adult services.

Learning disabilities, mental health, and autism

The council will expand support for the growing number of for people with learning disabilities, mental health issues and autism, with an additional £7.4 million a year. There will be a further one-year investment of £2.8 million to transform and improve current housing support for people with mental health issues and/or autism. Proposals also include the withdrawal of a previously agreed saving proposal of £0.3 million for social workers to support people with mental health issues and/or autism.

The council is developing a programme to address future needs of people with learning disabilities, mental health issues and autism, including a transitions service to help young people to live independent lives as adults.

Weight management

The council will increase support for people to adopt healthier lifestyles and reduce risk of long-term health conditions. The council currently funds 200 places for community weight loss programmes such as Slimming World, Weight Watchers and Men vs Fat but the funded places are at full capacity. Funding will be increased by £0.2 million in 2020/21 (and the same in 2021/22) to help tackle obesity by kickstarting individuals’ weight loss journey.

Children with special educational needs or disabilities

Increased funding of £1.2 million has been agreed to support children with special educational needs or disabilities by increasing the number of case workers to meet the growing number of requests for education, care and health plans (EHCPs) and expanding the educational psychologist service. An additional £3.8 million is being added to the budget for home to school transport. Further investment is planned for the following year, including a new service that will help schools to access support for individual children and support learners with identified needs in mainstream schools.

School catering

The county council currently provides meals to around 60 schools – the vast majority of which are primary schools. A total of £0.2 million will be spent on developing a better and more commercial business model, which encourages healthy eating in schools.

School investment

Housing growth in Oxfordshire means that developers will be providing money, through part of the planning process known as Section 106 agreements, which enables the council to provide the extra pupil places needed locally. An additional £50 million has been added to the capital programme over ten years.

Highway maintenance programme

The county council will spend £30 million in 2020/21 from its capital budget on repairs to roads, bridges, signs and lines, drainage and footways. Major schemes on the programme for the coming financial year include: Oxford Road in Banbury; Northcourt Road in Abingdon; Burwell Drive and West End, both in Witney.

Reactive maintenance to ensure that Oxfordshire’s roads operate safely continues as normal – including things like pothole repairs, drain clearance, and streetlight repairs. This year the council will also be investing £640,000 in sign cleaning and vegetation clearing to ensure signs are properly visible. In future years £320,000 a year will be put in this area.

Climate change - meeting our ambitious target

The council will invest in energy and carbon reduction in the coming years. Having already reduced its own carbon emissions by 50 per cent since 2008, it is now gearing up its efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030. The hard work that the county has already done with district councils means that Oxfordshire is the best county for recycling in the country.

The budget includes a £0.7 million investment in “pump-priming” so that the council can implement new ways of working that will bring cash and carbon savings. This work will include renewable energy generation, improved energy efficiency of our buildings and enabling “cleaner” staff travel.

The council’s new electric vehicle purchasing policy will switch its car and van fleet to electric wherever possible. Over the next five years it will be spending £40 million replacing 56,000 bulbs with new LED technology which will not only provide excellent quality lighting but also drastically cut the amount paid for electricity and greatly reduce its carbon footprint.

Sustainable transport investment

As well as investing in directly reducing its own carbon footprint, the council is also making major investments that will help more Oxfordshire residents to travel more sustainably. Its policy now means that all of transport improvement schemes allow for cycling facilities wherever possible – this supports the work being done to tackle congestion on the roads and encourage more and more people to use sustainable transport.

The council plans to spend £32 million on the A40 bus lane and park and ride and a £6.5 million investment in the Botley Road which will result in infrastructure that will make sustainable transport more attractive to more people.

Major capital projects currently being delivered or where work will begin soon (funded through Section 106, Local Growth Fund and Growth Deal) include:

• £4 million on the Science Vale Cycle Network to improve pedestrian and cycle access
• £9.5 million on the Botley Road corridor improvements including walking, cycling and buses
• £0.8 million on the A361 safety improvements with a new shared path
• £4 million on riverside routes in Oxford improving non-road cycle routes
• £1.1 million on connections to Oxford Station includes pedestrian and cycle improvements
• £32 million A40 Science Transit 2 includes an improved path for cyclists
• £5.9 million A40 Oxford North project including improvements for cyclists

The council will also invest £0.5m in improving sustainable travel plans to ensure bus, cycling and walking routes are integral to new housing and business property developments.

Councillor Priority Fund

The county council will continue to invest in communities by continuing the Councillor Priority Fund, which was established two years ago. In that time, councillors have used this money to support a range of community initiatives, many of which have secured match funding to increase the local investment. During 2018/19, there were over 170 different community and charity groups that received funding involving over 60 different towns and parish organisations.

The county council proposes to spend £30 million in 2020/21 from its capital budget on repairs to roads, bridges, drainage and footways across Oxfordshire’s towns and villages, with major schemes scheduled in Banbury, Abingdon and Witney.

New funding of £3 million per year is proposed to improve local road safety and accessibility, including new pedestrian crossings, improved junctions and better bus stop facilities. These measures are designed to encourage walking and cycling as part of the council’s commitment to improving air quality and active lifestyles.

Responding to climate change features prominently across budget proposals, including support for sustainable travel such as improving park and ride services on the A40, and the roll-out energy-efficient streetlight.

Key points for business

Sustainable transport investment

We are proposing to develop a new service to help employers create sustainable travel plans to ensure bus, cycling and walking routes are integral to new housing and business property developments.

Our policy is that all transport improvement schemes include cycling facilities wherever possible – this supports the work we are doing to tackle congestion on the roads and encourage people to use sustainable transport.

The council plans to spend £32 million on the A40 bus lane and park and ride, £6.5 million investment in the Botley Road will all result in infrastructure that will make sustainable transport more attractive to more people.

Major capital projects we are current delivering or will shortly start work on, funded through Section 106, Local Growth Fund and Growth Deal include:

• £4 million on the Science Vale Cycle Network to improve pedestrian and cycle access
• £9.5 million on the Botley Road corridor improvements including walking, cycling and buses
• £0.8 million on the A361 safety improvements with a new shared path
• £4 million on Riverside routes in Oxford improving non-road cycle routes
• £1.1 million on connections to Oxford Station includes pedestrian and cycle improvements
• £32 million A40 Science Transit 2 includes an improved path for cyclists
• £5.9 million A40 Oxford North project including improvements for cyclists

Highway maintenance programme

The county council proposes to spend £30 million in 2020/21 from its capital budget on repairs to roads, bridges, signs and lines, drainage and footways. Major schemes on the programme for the coming financial year include: Oxford Road in Banbury; Northcourt Road in Abingdon; Burwell Drive and West End, both in Witney.

Reactive maintenance to ensure that Oxfordshire’s roads operate safely continues as normal – that means things like pothole filling, drain clearance, and streetlight repairs. This year we are also putting extra resources – around £0.3 million – into sign-cleaning and clearing vegetation clearing to improve visibility.

Climate change

The county council has already reduced its own carbon emissions by 50 per cent since 2008 and is now ramping up its efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030. Oxfordshire is already the best county for recycling in the country.

The budget proposal include a £0.7 million investment in “pump-priming” so that the council can implement new ways of working that will bring cash and carbon savings. This work will include renewable energy generation, improved energy efficiency of our buildings and enabling “cleaner” staff travel.

The council’s new electric vehicle purchasing policy will switch our car and van fleet to electric wherever possible. Over the next five years we will be spending £40 million replacing 56,000 bulbs with new LED technology which will not only provide excellent quality lighting but also drastically cut the amount we pay for electricity and greatly reduce our carbon footprint.

School investment

Housing growth in Oxfordshire means that developers will be providing money, through part of the planning process known as Section 106 agreements, which enables us to provide the extra pupil places needed locally. An additional £50 million has been added to the capital programme over ten years.

Business feedback

The county council is inviting feedback from employers on the budget proposals before all councillors vote on revised proposals on 11 February. To comment on the budget proposals go to the online consultation from at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/budget or email budget@oxfordshire.gov.uk. The deadline for comments is Wednesday 29 January 2020.

• This is an "investment budget" in public services to prevent problems before they happen
• We're supporting struggling families so fewer children come into care .
• Investing in community support for older and disabled people to help them live independently
• Designing places that help people stay healthy by encouraging cycling and walking
• We've halved our carbon emissions since 2008 – our target is zero carbon by 2030
• Have your say on the council's budget proposals here.

Proposals for an “investment budget” to reduce neglect, ill-health and social isolation have been published by Oxfordshire County Council. The plans include community support for people who have become vulnerable in their community so they can live independently for longer, and more help for struggling families to reduce the chances of children having to go into care.

Funding for children and adult social services would increase by £30 million next year, including an extra £8.1 million from the government. This money is needed to support an increase in adult social care needs for both older and disabled people, as well as the increasing number of child protection cases, which has grown in line with national trends.

The budget proposals also include investment in infrastructure across the county, such as an extra £50 million for new and existing schools over ten years, with most of the funding coming from housing developers to meet the need for more pupil places in Oxfordshire.

Budget briefing

This is a summary of the most significant budget proposals – investments in services and savings. Councillors will be considering two sets of budget proposals: revenue budget that pays for day-to-day services, including the ‘invest-to-save’ measures; and the capital programme that provides long-term investment in transport, schools, broadband and other infrastructure. Full details of the revenue and capital budget proposals below in Further Information.

Investment in public services

This a summary of the main budget proposals to improve services and invest in preventing problems before they happen. For full details see 'Further information' below.

Family safeguarding model

Initial investment of £2.3 million in a new approach to supporting families in difficulties, including parenting, substance abuse, domestic violence and mental health. The new model was developed in Hertfordshire and has been independently assessed as a successful way to improve the chances of keeping families together safely. Net savings are projected at £1.8 million by year four.

Foster families

In line with national trends, the numbers of young people in care has risen in recent years requiring an increase in fostering and residential placements. The county council proposes to invest £1 million in internal fostering services to increase the number of local foster carers, including increasing support and payments to foster families.

Community networks

An investment of £1.8 million in community networks, capacity, winter projects and alternatives to formal care, funded from the improved Better Care Fund to enable people to be better able to support themselves, and help communities help the most vulnerable locally. Developing these informal care networks is critical to managing future demand for adult services.

Learning disabilities, mental health, and autism

We will expand support for the growing number of for people with learning disabilities, mental health issues and autism, with an additional £7.4 million a year. There will be a further one-year investment of £2.8 million to transform and improve current housing support for people with mental health issues and/or autism. Proposals also include the withdrawal of a previously agreed saving proposal of £0.3 million for social workers to support people with mental health issues and/or autism.

We are developing a programme to address future needs of people with learning disabilities, mental health issues and autism, including a transitions service to help young people to live independent lives as adults.

Weight management

We are increasing support for people to adopt healthier lifestyles and reduce risk of long-term health conditions. The council currently funds 200 places for community weight loss programmes such as Slimming World, Weight Watchers and Men vs Fat but the funded places are at full capacity. We are proposing to increase funding by £0.2 million in 2020/21 (and the same in 2021/22) to help tackle obesity by kickstarting individuals’ weight loss journey.

Children with special educational needs or disabilities

Increased funding of £1.2 million to support children with special educational needs or disabilities by increasing the number of case workers to meet the growing number of requests for education, care and health plans (EHCPs) and expanding the educational psychologist service. An additional £3.8 million is being added to the budget for home to school transport. Further investment is planned for the following year, including a new service that will help schools to access support for individual children and support learners with identified needs in mainstream schools.

School catering

The county council currently provides meals to around 60 schools. The vast majority of these are currently primary schools, meaning that we are providing a service to 25 per cent of Oxfordshire’s primary schools. We are spending £0.2 million on developing a better and more commercial business model, which encourages healthy eating in schools.

School investment

Housing growth in Oxfordshire means that developers will be providing money, through part of the planning process known as Section 106 agreements, which enables us to provide the extra pupil places needed locally. An additional £50 million has been added to the capital programme over ten years.

Highway maintenance programme

The county council proposes to spend £30 million in 2020/21 from its capital budget on repairs to roads, bridges, signs and lines, drainage and footways. Major schemes on the programme for the coming financial year include: Oxford Road in Banbury; Northcourt Road in Abingdon; Burwell Drive and West End, both in Witney.

Reactive maintenance to ensure that Oxfordshire’s roads operate safely continues as normal – that means things like pothole filling, drain clearance, and streetlight repairs. This year we are also putting extra resources – around £0.3 million – into sign cleaning and vegetation clearing to ensure signs are properly visible.”

Climate change - meeting our ambitious target

We will be investing in energy and carbon reduction in the coming years. The county council has already reduced its own carbon emissions by 50 per cent since 2008 and is now ramping up its efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030. The hard work that the county has already done with its district councils means that Oxfordshire is the best county for recycling in the country.

The budget includes a £0.7 million investment in “pump-priming” so that the council can implement new ways of working that will bring cash and carbon savings. This work will include renewable energy generation, improved energy efficiency of our buildings and enabling “cleaner” staff travel.

The council’s new electric vehicle purchasing policy will switch our car and van fleet to electric wherever possible. Over the next five years we will be spending £40 million replacing 56,000 bulbs with new LED technology which will not only provide excellent quality lighting but also drastically cut the amount we pay for electricity and greatly reduce our carbon footprint. Investments in sustainable transport are highlighted below.

Sustainable transport investment

As well as investing in directly reducing its own carbon footprint, the council is also making major investments that will help more Oxfordshire residents to travel more sustainably. Our policy now means that all of our transport improvement schemes allow for cycling facilities wherever possible – this supports the work we are doing to tackle congestion on the roads and encourage more and more people to use sustainable transport.

The council plans to spend £32 million on the A40 bus lane and park and ride, £6.5 million investment in the Botley Road will all result in infrastructure that will make sustainable transport more attractive to more people.

Major capital projects we are current delivering or will shortly start work on, funded through Section 106, Local Growth Fund and Growth Deal include:

• £4 million on the Science Vale Cycle Network to improve pedestrian and cycle access
• £9.5 million on the Botley Road corridor improvements including walking, cycling and buses
• £0.8 million on the A361 safety improvements with a new shared path
• £4 million on Riverside routes in Oxford improving non-road cycle routes
• £1.1 million on connections to Oxford Station includes pedestrian and cycle improvements
• £32 million A40 Science Transit 2 includes an improved path for cyclists
• £5.9 million A40 Oxford North project including improvements for cyclists

The council is also proposing to invest £0.5m in improving sustainable travel plans to ensure bus, cycling and walking routes are integral to new housing and business property developments.

Councillor Priority Fund

The county council also proposes to continue investment in communities by continuing the popular Councillor Priority Fund, which was established two years ago. In that time, councillors have used this money to support a range of community initiatives, many of which have secured match funding to increase the local investment. During 2018/19, there were over 170 different community and charity groups that received funding involving over 60 different towns and parish organisations.

About the budget proposals

As a result of the general election, timing for the budget setting process is different from usual. The revenue and capital budget proposals, along with the council’s new corporate plan, take into consideration the latest information on the council’s financial position outlined in this report and comments from the Performance Scrutiny Committee meeting on 9 January 2020.

The public consultation on the budget closes on 29 January 2020. The budget consultation report and any changes to the proposed budget as a result of comments received will be incorporated into the Service & Resource Planning 2020/21 – 2023/24 report to Council on 11 February 2020.

The Final Local Government Finance settlement and confirmation of some other funding streams has not yet been provided by the government, and therefore there may be further changes made to the budget proposals ahead of full Council on 11 February 2020.

Further information

Read our budget consultation information and have your say here.

Our draft corporate plan is here.

The full table of our revenue budget proposals - savings, investments and other finaical measures - by directorate is here.

Details of the current capital programme can be found here. The full capital programme will be considered by the council on 11 February.

The agenda for the Performance Scrutiny Committee meeting on 9 January 2020 with all the background papers is here.

There’s a £1bn boost over the next decade for the county’s highways, school buildings and other infrastructure.

The council has set its budget for 2019/20 and planned up to 2023 against a well-documented background of pressure from the rising cost of supporting vulnerable adults and children at risk of abuse and neglect across England.

In his speech to today’s annual budget setting meeting of all Oxfordshire county councillors, Cllr Ian Hudspeth, the leader of the council, said: “We have taken difficult decisions in the past as we have to produce a balanced budget every year. Taking those tough decisions has meant we are in a more solid financial position.

“However budgets are still tight, and the council will need to continue to change so we can improve services and free up resources needed to meet the rising demand for services – particularly for vulnerable children and adults.”

Strong support for youth services

Youth groups will be invited to bid in to a £1m fund over two years, and are encouraged to find match funding from their local communities. Feedback from residents’ points to strong support for improving community-run youth services, and this money would help existing projects expand and new ones get off the ground.

Councillor Hudspeth continued: “It would be good to offer teenagers the chance to have their own space to pursue their own interests in a safe environment. Communities and our own county councillors tell us that community-run youth services are really valued.

“We want to try to reach out to all areas of the county, recognising good existing youth activities and offering additional support and offering help where there are gaps in services. I am sure local people with energy and ideas will come forward.”

Voluntary sector welcome for extra youth spending

Jodie Lloyd-Jones, chief executive of Oxfordshire Youth, said: “Community-run youth services make a huge contribution to society and compliment statutory services, but more importantly they provide a safe space, a trusting relationship and offer young people a sense of belonging.

“As young people grow up in a society that has moved online, a physical space for young people to go and build relationships, and feel connected to the wider community is more important than ever before.

“The youth clubs and organisations that are currently operating across the county provide an essential service for children and young people. As a charity at the heart of these organisations, we see the impact that is made on a daily basis.

“It is really positive that Oxfordshire County Council has found a way to support these services, the more recognition we have of the value of voluntary sector youth services, the more investment we will be able to bring to the county.”

The funds would be administered by a cross-party working group of Oxfordshire’s county councillors, chaired by Councillor Mark Gray.

More money adult and children’s social services

• The council is in the process of doubling the children’s social care budget from its £46m level in 2011 up to £95m by 2023 as the number of children entering care in Oxfordshire and across England continues to rise.
• The council’s budget for adult social care could increase by £5m in 2019/20, with further annual increases reaching nearly £6m by 2022/23 to increase support for the growing number of older and disabled people.

Major infrastructure improvements in the pipeline

Highway improvements, new school buildings and energy-efficient streetlighting will be possible thanks to a £1 billion investment over the next ten years. Transport schemes across Oxfordshire – including Banbury, Oxford, Eynsham, Benson, Wantage, Didcot, Thame and Bicester - are set for funding approval so the county council can improve journeys for drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users.

Nearly £20m will be invested to increase the provision of school places for children with special needs in the county, including rebuilding Northfield School in Oxford. Capital funding is for large one-off projects such as highway repairs or building work to assist the council meet its obligations, such as creating extra school places - as opposed to the normal revenue budget which covers funding for the costs of day-to-day services.

Most of the funding for capital programme is made up of government funding and developer contributions, which cannot be used for any other purpose. The proposed capital programme includes government funding through the Oxfordshire Growth Deal, agreed by all Oxfordshire councils.

Councillor Hudspeth said: “The county council is working to ensure Oxfordshire’s economy continues to thrive in the future. Part of that is helping young people to be able to afford homes here so they can live and work in their home county rather than have to move elsewhere.”

Oxfordshire has received government funding of £215m to support the creation of new homes, including £60m specifically for affordable housing. In addition, the county council recently bid for £218m to deliver new homes and infrastructure in and around Didcot.

Transforming council services

Planned redesign of the council around the changing needs of residents and communities will maintain or improve services, with investment in digital technology enabling us to save money in the process.

We are now reviewing the digital technology needed to make the council run more effectively and efficiently, including improving customer service by making it easier to access services online.

The council is budgeting for savings of £50m from changing the way services are delivered. The council has already started implementing these changes, including improving online ‘self-service’ HR and finance systems used by staff. As part of the partnership with Cherwell District Council, legal services for the two councils are joining up.

Council Tax

The council’s plan – which remains unaltered since the council last set its budget in February 2018 – is to raise Council Tax by 2.99 per cent in 2019/20 and 1.99 per cent in the years thereafter.

Youth groups will be invited to bid in to a £1m fund over two years, with encouragement to find match funding from their local communities. Feedback from residents points to strong support for improving community-run youth services, and this money would help existing projects expand and new ones get off the ground.

By offering start-up funding, the council has already helped many community-run groups provide support for young children and families, and it is hoped the same could happen for youth services.

Community-run youth services would complement the work of the county council’s Children’s Services department, which targets its resources at children at risk of abuse and neglect.

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, the leader of the county council, said: “People in their individual local areas, towns and villages know best what’s good for their community and where they’d like to see improvements.

“It would be good to be able to offer teenagers in those communities the chance to have their own space to pursue their own interests and the company of other young people in a safe environment. Communities and our own county councillors tell us that community-run youth services are really valued.

“We want to try to reach out to all areas of the county, recognising good existing provision and offering additional support and offering help where there are gaps in services and where local people have energy and ideas to offer in terms of what could be delivered.

“We know that our thriving Oxfordshire communities share the county council’s ambition to give every child a good start in life and we are looking forward to working with them with this additional money.

“Oxfordshire is a county with a very active and dedicated voluntary sector and we are always delighted to work with communities to improve services and quality of life. We have seen communities successfully take on the work of former children’s centres in recent years with initial financial help from the county council, including stay and play sessions.”

How would funding bids be managed?

The money for the proposed new fund comes from better than expected Council Tax collection by district councils. There would be £500,000 available in 2019/20 and the same amount in 2020/21.

The council will set its budget for the 2019/20 financial year at the meeting as well as setting out plans for the years up to 2023. Included in proposals are plans to double the spend on children’s social care from £46m in 2011 to £95m by 2022/23.

The council’s budget for adult social care could increase by £5m in 2019/20, with further annual increases reaching nearly £6m by 2022/23 to increase support for the growing number of older and disabled people.

Cllr Hudspeth concluded: “Our budget is under pressure from the rising cost of supporting vulnerable adults and children at risk of abuse and neglect. This needs to be our top priority but I am delighted that we have found a way to help communities provide support for young people.”

The funds would be administered by a cross-party working group of Oxfordshire’s county councillors, chaired by Councillor Mark Gray. The proposals will be considered by the annual budget setting meeting of the county council on Tuesday, February 12.

However, the county council is also warning that funding pressure on services remains as demand for social care for vulnerable children and adults continues grow and continued financial prudence is required to meet those demands.

Transport schemes across Oxfordshire – including Banbury, Oxford, Eynsham, Benson, Wantage, Didcot, Thame and Bicester - are set for funding approval so the county council can improve journeys for drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users.

Nearly £20m will be invested to increase the provision of school places for children with special needs in the county, including rebuilding Northfield School in Oxford with more pupil places.

Capital funding is for large one-off projects such as highway repairs or building work to assist the council meet its obligations, such as creating extra school places - as opposed to the normal revenue budget which covers funding for the costs of day-to-day services.

Most of the funding for capital programme is made up of government funding and developer contributions, which cannot be used for any other purpose. The proposed capital programme includes government funding through the Oxfordshire Growth Deal, agreed by all Oxfordshire councils.

Elsewhere in the Capital Programme a £41m street lighting improvement programme continues to be part of the investment plan, with traditional lanterns to be replaced with more energy efficient LED lighting, saving money in the long-run.

The ten-year capital programme is part of the council’s proposed budget for next year, which has been put forward following public consultation. The proposals will be discussed by the council’s cabinet on January 22 before all councillors set the council’s budget on 12 February 2019.

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, the Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said:

“There are many exciting projects to improve journeys, street lighting and schools, and I look forward to seeing them take shape as part of our proposed £1bn investment programme for Oxfordshire. We have already spent £10m this year on upgrading highways so drivers, pedestrians and cyclists should see a real difference in the coming years.

“Our overall aim is to support and sustain our thriving local economy, which is why we are planning this long-term investment.”

Funding pressures as demand children and adults care grow

Pressure on funding for day-to-day council services continues as the council increases funding for to support of Oxfordshire’s most vulnerable children and adults. There is also uncertainty about future government funding, which is making budget planning harder.

To make sure the growing number of children at risk of abuse and neglect are protected, the children’s social care budget has increased annually. It was £46m in 2011 and is forecast to be £95m in 2022/23 – more than doubling in ten years.

The council’s budget for adult social care could increase by £5m in 2019/20, with further annual increases reaching nearly £6m by 2022/23 to increase support for the growing number of older and disabled people.

Councillor Hudspeth continued:

“Pressure on funding for day-to-day council services remains for all councils, including here in Oxfordshire. We will continue to face difficult financial choices so that we can continue to fund services for the most vulnerable children and adults in our communities. Financial prudence will continue to be required to meet these pressures.

“We shouldn’t be scared of working with the voluntary sector. Some of those organisations are providing really good outcomes and local ideas. We should be enhancing those and supporting the voluntary sector and not just seeing it as an add-on.”

Transforming council services

Meanwhile planned redesign of the council around the changing needs of residents and communities will maintain or improve services, with investment in digital technology enabling us to save money in the process.

We are now reviewing the digital technology needed to make the council run more effectively and efficiently, including improving customer service by making it easier to access services online.

The council has identified savings of £50m from changing the way services are delivered. The council has already started implementing these changes, including improving online ‘self-service’ HR and finance systems used by staff. As part of the partnership with Cherwell District Council, legal services for the two councils are being joined up.

Councillor Hudspeth added:

“Transforming the way services are delivered is vital to enable the council to meet future demand for council services – particularly for vulnerable children and adults – while continuing to invest in the county’s community services and transport infrastructure.

“This is the only way we can be financially sustainable in the long term, particularly as there is so much uncertainty about future government funding for councils.”

Infrastructure projects earmarked for funding in the proposed budget

A total of £548m will be spent on highways and associated infrastructure. Schemes included in the 10-year capital programme – which would also include contributions from the Growth Deal with government agreed by all Oxfordshire councils - include:

• A £2.5m project along Tramway Road in Banbury including a new bus lane and two-way taxi link past the railway station and in to the town centre.
• A £36m project to provide dedicated public transport improvements on the A40 to Eynsham – this would include an eastbound bus priority lane from Eynsham to the Duke’s Cut canal bridge near Wolvercote, a 1000 space park and ride site at Eynsham and junction improvements in the Eynsham/Cassington area.
• A £12m relief road for Watlington – providing an alternative route from the B4009
• A £10m project to improve the Featherbed Lane and Steventon junctions near Milton Park – providing better access to Milton Park and mitigating congestion at Rowstock roundabout.
• An £6.5m project for improvements along the Woodstock Road and Banbury Road corridors in Oxford – including a new park and ride on the A44 corridor, expansion of Water Eaton Park and Ride and prioritisation measures for public transport, cycling and pedestrians.
• An £12m upgrade to the route from the A40 into Carterton and RAF Brize Norton to relieve pressure on the surrounding rural road network.
• An £8.8m scheme to improve journey times on the Botley Road in Oxford – design solutions are being worked on to improve access to the Park and Ride

The budget proposals are being reviewed by the county council’s Performance Scrutiny Committee on Thursday 13 December before the council sets its budget in February. Residents and other stakeholders can comment on proposals as part of the formal budget consultation process.

Locally and nationally, the number of children at risk referred to social services is increasing. The number of children taken into care by the county council has increased by 80 per cent since 2011. Last month, the Local Government Association released figures showing more than 1,000 children a day are being referred to social services across the country.

To make sure the growing number of children at risk of abuse and neglect are protected, the children’s social care budget has increased annually from £46m in 2011 to £78m this year (2018/19). Next year, the children’s services budget will need to increase to £86m, and up to £95m in 2022/23 – more than doubling in ten years.

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, the leader of the county council, said: “Where a child is at real risk of abuse or neglect we act first, and deal with the budget impact later. We must meet these budget pressures by finding ways to make savings so we can continue to fund services to support the most vulnerable children and adults.”

The growing number of children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) has meant significant investment is planned to meet increasing demand, with further proposals considered by the county council’s Cabinet in December.

Robust financial position despite long-term pressures

Tough decisions taken since 2010 have created a route to financial stability at Oxfordshire County Council as the council plans to set its 2019/20 budget at a time when all councils face financial challenges.

Councillor Hudspeth continued: “Pressure on funding for day-to-day council services remains intense for all councils, including here in Oxfordshire. We have listened to residents so that we can improve our services and continue to support all of Oxfordshire’s thriving communities.

“We have already agreed to invest up to £120m to improve roads and repair and maintain schools. We know these things are the top of many residents’ list of priorities and we have already spent an additional £10m on repairing roads this year.”

Supporting Oxfordshire’s ageing population

The proportion of older people and adults with complex needs in Oxfordshire is rising faster than the national average, with more people requiring care services each year.

As a result, the county council needs to save money in other parts of its budget to find more money to care for people who need our help the most. Next year the county council proposes to increase funding to adult social care services by £5m to account for demographic changes.

Councillor Hudspeth continued: “The government’s autumn budget provided additional funding for social services, which relieves some of the short-term pressures next year [2019/20] but like all councils, our social workers are dealing with more and more children and adults.”

Council Tax proposals

The council’s plan – agreed at the last budget in February 2018 - to raise Council Tax by 2.99 per cent in 2019/20 and 1.99 per cent in the years thereafter remains the same in the new budget proposals.

However, funding for local government beyond 2020 is currently uncertain, with councils waiting for funding decisions from central government which will not be known until late 2019.

The planned redesign of the council around the changing needs of residents and communities will maintain or improve services, with investment in new technology enabling us to save money in the process.

Transforming will enable us to meet future demand for council services – particularly for vulnerable children and adults – while continuing to invest in the county’s infrastructure.

Following agreement of the blueprint for the transformed council, the council is planning for the implementation of the changes and identifying the upfront investment needed, particularly in digital technology. The costs and savings from the implementation of the redesign over the next four years will be reflected in the budget once they have been finalised.

Have your say

We are asking people for their views on our budget proposals and our proposed Council Tax level for 2019/20. Read the consultation booklet and take part online from Thursday 6 December at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/budget. Alternatively pick up a copy of the consultation booklet at a library or email your views to budget@oxfordshire.gov.uk. The closing date for comments is Sunday 6 January 2019.

Main budget proposals

Budget increases to meet the predicated demand for services

• Investment of almost £6m by 2023 to increase care packages to meet assessed needs for adults with learning and physical disabilities. (Adult Social Care)
• An increase of £5.8m is proposed to be added to the budget in 2022/23 in adult social care to meet projected increased need as a result of the aging population. The council’s existing planning up to 2021/22 already includes provision for budget increases of £5.0m in 2019/20 and 2020/21 and £5.6m in 2021/22. (Adult Social Care)
• Invest £3.2m up to 2023 (£800,000 per year) to support the increasing number of children qualifying for school transport – in particular children with special educational needs. (Children, Education and Families)
• Invest £17m to support the predicted increasing numbers of children in care, including more permanent care staff (Children, Education and Families)

Other financial pressures

• Following a review by the Treasury, the employer contributions to the firefighter pension scheme have been increased nationally to meet the future costs of the scheme – this creates a pressure of £1.6m up to 2023. (Communities)
• Energy price increases of approx. 30% in 2017/18 continue to impact on the cost of providing street lighting and along with repayment of borrowing to pay for LED lighting upgrades this creates a pressure of £2.6m up to 2023. (Communities)
• Funding the inflationary increase in the rates the council pays to adult social care providers from 2020/21 to keep pace with potential increases in the National Living Wage and to respond to other inflationary pressures of £3.3m (Adult Social Care)
• A growing number of children in the county have defined special educational needs (SEND). The number of SEND children; the increasing complexity of disabilities, and the legal changes that mean parents can ask for an assessment for more services has contributed to the growing numbers with an assessed need. This is an unavoidable budget pressure of £5.6m as the Department for Education grant does not cover council costs, and Oxfordshire receives one of the lowest grants in the country. (Corporate)

Proposed savings

This is a list of some of the most significant savings that will be considered by members of the Performance Scrutiny Committee on Thursday 13 December.

Children, Education and Families

The following are proposals already announced that will now take place over coming financial years.

• The council is re-negotiating contracts with outside organisations who assist in the provision of children’s social care. Block contracts provide specific varieties of care for pre-agreed payment. This would save £2.65m between 2019 and 2023.
• The council is working on a new model of delivering children’s social care following the example of other councils who have been able to structure themselves differently to deliver faster more intensive and therefore more effective care to families while at the same time streamlining processes. This would save £1.74m up to 2023.
• Moving children in care back home with increased support rather than keeping them in expensive care placements could save £2.491m. This is based on a new ‘safer and sooner’ approach to family support developed with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).

Communities

• Greater streetlight efficiency due to LED replacements would save £2.6m up to 2023.

Adult social care

• The council currently contributes money towards mental health services that sit with the NHS. This has not reduced over the last five years. Mental health has been protected to date but it is proposed that savings now be made in keeping with savings made elsewhere in adult social care. This would save £1m over 2020/21 and 2021/22 and a further £600,000 on staffing. The reduction in staff spend of £600k with Oxford Health is in order to invest in social work staff for special educational needs and safeguarding and is not an absolute reduction.
• In adult social care, proactive and supportive review / reassessments of learning disability packages of care to increase user independence and ensure best use of resources would save £1.5m
• A person’s care needs are assessed at the time the care is put in place and there are then annual review/reassessments. By investing in a more proactive approach to these review /reassessments care packages can be streamlined to ensure they continue to meet people’s eligible needs while capacity can be released for other people’s essential care needs. With a limited amount of home care the council needs to ensure the right people are getting the right amount of care. This could save £2.4m
• In adult social care, savings of £1.5m are expected as a result of price negotiations with providers on long and short-term care home beds.

Areas of uncertainty in budget setting looking forward to 2023

There are key areas in which councils need more information in coming months:

• Fair Funding Review – the Government is examining the current formula that decides funding allocations for local authorities by updating the assessment of their needs. The Government plans an updated funding formula by looking again at the factors that drive costs for local authorities.
• National Government’s Spending Review – the Treasury is conducting a review across Central Government as to how each much each Whitehall Department will receive in funding. This will affect local government but also defence, health, home affairs, education and all other Government departments.

• Business Rates Retention – the Government is undertaking a review of how much councils should retain in Business Rates that are collected locally.
• Taxbase and collection fund – for 2019/20 the council is awaiting information from district councils about how many homes will be paying Council Tax overall (factoring in housebuilding etc) and how successful district councils have been in collecting Council Tax from those eligible to pay.

The redesigned council will enable residents to report faults or book appointments online, freeing up staff time to help to service users who cannot go online or have complex care needs.

Staff will be given the tools they need to do a better job and spend more time on delivering services to residents. Outdated ICT systems make it hard to join up services and will be replaced, with admin tasks automated to save money and make the council run more smoothly.

The changes will support the county council’s long-term vision of ‘thriving communities for everyone in Oxfordshire’. The redesign is also needed to secure the council’s long-term financial stability as demand for services continues to rise – particularly for children and adult social care.

Yvonne Rees, Chief Executive of Oxfordshire County Council, said:

“We know that the council has to change as the needs of Oxfordshire residents change, and we have to provide more services with fewer resources. Councillors have decided that now is the time to make a major investment to ensure that we provide services more effectively so we can continue to support the county’s thriving communities in the future.

“Residents who are used to booking holidays online or checking their bank balance will see real improvements in their dealings with the council. We also know that computers are not for everyone and I would like to reassure those people that there will still be a personal touch for those who need it.”

The Cabinet approved the plan to work with specialist advisors PwC as the programme management partner, with likelihood of other partners being brought in for specific projects.

Oxfordshire County Council could get a complete overhaul to ensure it is ‘fit for the future’ and continues to meet rising demand for services.

The proposed changes, which will be considered by councillors in September, are crucial to enabling the county council to deliver its vision of ‘thriving communities for everyone’.

The transformation plan would protect and improve frontline services for residents, while cutting red tape and reducing the costs of ‘back office’ administration. The proposed redesign of the county council could save between £34m-58m a year and ensure a continued balanced budget, with the possibility of reinvesting in services in the future.

The council needs to save £33m as part of its four-year budget plan, so the lower end of the estimated savings meets that need. The alternative would be finding other savings that would be more likely to reduce services to residents.

Improving customer service and reducing administration costs

Customer service, supported by new technology, will be at the heart of the proposed new ‘operating model’ to make the council much more efficient. Residents contacting the council will see improved customer service, with better use of digital technology freeing up time for specialist staff to provide personalised services where needed.

The proposed redesign also makes working with communities the top priority, so that services are as effective and efficient as possible. This will include improved use of data to target resources where they are needed most and have the greatest impact.

The ‘operating model’ was developed after a review of every aspect of the way the county council works conducted by professional advisors, PwC. The review found the council had successfully managed reductions in government funding over the last eight years, but needed to fundamentally change to meet future challenges of rising demand for services – particularly care for vulnerable children and adults and to use technology to give residents a better service.

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said:

“These proposed changes are a crucial part of the county council’s commitment to supporting thriving communities for everyone in Oxfordshire.

“Over the last eight years, the county council has taken some difficult decisions so we can meet the growing demand for services while staying on a sound financial footing. We are now looking to the future to create an organisation that can provide services that Oxfordshire people and communities want and need.

“We still need to save money to meet our budget pressures over the next few years. This review has shown that we can provide more support by cutting red tape and reducing the costs of ‘back office’ administration and making sure taxpayers’ money is spent on providing council services.

“The advice from PwC will more than pay for itself by finding financial savings that we could not have found on our own. This is a golden opportunity to make real changes that would at one and the same time save money and benefit the public. The report clearly says that we can makes these changes without reducing the quality of services for residents.

“Our systems currently do not support staff as well as they could do in order for them to do the best job they can – and we know how frustrating that is because staff tell us that. There’s no doubt they are working hard and trying to do their best for Oxfordshire, but our systems, structures need to better support them. We have a duty now to act on that.”

The new operating model will be considered by county councillors during September, with a decision taken by Cabinet on 18 September. If agreed, councillors would meet again in October to consider how best to implement the operating model and the investment that will be required. Savings could then be made from the start of the next financial year.

As well as reducing the costs of administration, the programme is also looking at innovative ways to deliver services differently, including better use of technology. Ideas being considered include:

• Opportunities to improve the efficiency of home to school transport provision
• Remote testing of fire alarms
• Use of drones in emergency situations
• Assistive technology to help disabled children

The benefits and how the changes would be implemented

Oxfordshire County Council commissioned PwC to do a detailed analysis of the potential savings that could come from redesigning the council and investing in digital technology. According to this analysis, estimated savings in the range of £34-58m per year could be possible over a five-year period.

Implementing the new ways of working would address the savings the council needs to make and could enable future investment in council services. The estimated one-off costs of up to £18m to implement the new operating model, including the necessary digital investment, would be paid back from the savings made

Detailed design work is now well underway and councillors will be updated on progress during September. Much of that work has been based on a detailed “Activity Analysis” of the way the council’s departments and staff within them currently operate.

The detailed business case for implementing the new operating model currently estimates a potential reduction of approximately 600-890 full time equivalent posts at the council over a two to three-year period. The council’s annual staff turnover is about 650 posts so the number of compulsory redundancies is likely to be much fewer.

Council leader Ian Hudspeth added:

“We are committed to reducing the number of redundancies by retraining staff wherever possible to fill the new jobs that would be created as a result of the proposed new council operation.”

Like all councils, Oxfordshire County Council has had to manage a significant reduction to government funding since 2010 while coping with rising demand for services, particularly adult and children’s social care.

Annual savings of more than £300m have been made since 2010, with most of this money being used to meet growing demand for social care for vulnerable children and adults. The council has become significantly more efficient since 2010, including sharing HR and finance services with Hampshire County Council and reducing the number of managers.

Further details can be read in the report to cabinet here

Key points include:

• Finances are sound compared to other councils, with difficult decisions taken previously

• Council tax rise will deliver extra money for adults and children’s social care

• Proposal to extend £500,000 contribution for homelessness for an extra year in 2019/20, subject to consultation

• 10-year programme to improve transport network and release more money for road maintenance

• £15,000 for each of the 63 county councillors to spend on local priorities in their area

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said:

“For the first time, we have created a 10-year capital programme so we can take a longer view of the costs and benefits of road repairs. By taking the long view, we can spend less on filling potholes and more on repairs that will last for years.”

“I do not believe in raising taxes unnecessarily. But I am confident that people understand about the rising cost of social care. In return, we will always ensure the money is spent as efficiently as possible.”

Tough decisions

Last year I said the council had made some tough decisions. I don’t want to downplay the impact these decisions have had on council services. But without those difficult decisions we might be facing a very different budget.

By focusing resources where they have greatest impact, I can present an affordable budget to Council. Services for the most vulnerable adults and children across the county will continue.

Our finances are in good shape compared to the state of local government finances generally. Northamptonshire’s Chief Finance Officer was forced to issue a formal notice stop council spending. The public finance body, CIPFA, has warned that other councils may follow.

Our financial position is still extremely tight, and we must work hard to deliver the savings in the medium term financial plan. But I am confident we can and will make those savings.

We took difficult decision to reduce bus subsidies, and reorganise family support services and day services for adults. That meant that we could deliver a balanced four-year budget. Today we benefit from that difficult vote we all took in 2016.

In proposing this budget, we have taken into account comments from Performance Scrutiny Committee and public responses to the consultation.

People are rightly concerned about the impact of savings on services, and on the voluntary sector that does so much in our communities.

I am concerned about this too, and believe this budget will make the best use of scare resources. I would particularly like to highlight the way more than 30 community groups have stepped in to provide services such as ‘stay and play’ for families with small children.

We have provided some financial help, but it is those community groups that have made it happen. That is what we mean by ‘thriving communities’.

Finances in good shaped compared to other councils

From 2010, when we started a savings programme, to the end of this financial year we will have saved £360 million. Most of that money has been be reinvested in services, particularly for vulnerable children and adults.

This has been set against a back drop of the number of adult care packages we provide nearly doubling since 2010. The number of looked after children has increased by 60%, and demand for child protection services continues to grow.

With these sorts of budget pressures, we have to target our resources to provide vital services to those vulnerable adults and children who require them most.

It's a tribute to our staff that we have been able to make the savings while continuing to run services - day in, day out - that help our communities thrive.

Here are just some examples of the services we deliver:

• Assessing the care needs of over 10,000 vulnerable people and rising
• Providing long-term social care for 6,500 adults
• Organising a million hours a year of support a year, as well as assisting thousands of informal carers.
• Assessing almost 4,000 children, including over 1,500 child protection issues
• Supporting, currently, 700 looked after children, and 600 on a child protection plan
• Working to turn around 550 families with real problems so they can thrive
• Registering 20,000 births, deaths, and marriages
• Maintaining almost 3,000 miles of road
• Issuing or renewing over 40,000 concessionary bus passes in year
• Disposing of over 300,000 tonnes of waste
• Responding to over 5,000 fire and rescue incidents

That’s what business as usual looks like at Oxfordshire County Council. But demand for services continues to rise as our population grows and ages.

Demand for social care puts budget under pressure

The government has already recognised the pressure by allowing us to raise a 3% precept to pay for social care as part of Council Tax.

This year the government enabled us to increase Council Tax by an additional 1% in further recognition of the pressure on all social services.

This will mean we will raise the council tax by the maximum allowed without triggering a referendum of 5.99%.

I do not believe in raising taxes unnecessarily. I understand the impact on our residents who may not have had an increase in their wages.

However, I am confident that people understand about the rising cost of social care.

In return, we will always ensure the money is spent as efficiently as possible.

Government funding for councils was announced last week after the budget papers were printed. We have been given an additional £1.4 million, which is welcome news for Oxfordshire.

I feel we need to carefully consider how to best use the additional funding. I propose to increase our contingency fund so that we can respond to the demand for adult social care over the course of the year.

Long-term view of road maintenance

The government has recently provided an additional £916,000 this year for highways repairs. This will be used to do longer term patching work in the spring.

In the meantime, we will continue to carry out urgent repairs to our roads, which we all know have suffered over the winter.

For the first time, we have created a 10-year capital programme so we can take a longer view of the costs and benefits of road repairs.

I am hopeful that we will be able to spend our maintenance budget more effectively. By taking the long view, we can spend less on filling potholes and more on repairs that will last for years.

There will also be more money to spend on roads as a result of government funding. Although that money is for improving the road network, it means money that would have been spent on maintenance on those roads can be used elsewhere.

Last year I said I wanted Oxfordshire to have its own infrastructure fund. I’m pleased to say that yesterday cabinet agreed to sign the Oxfordshire Growth deal, worth £215 million.

This money is reflected in the new capital programme. I am becoming more optimistic that we will be able upgrade our road network in the coming years.

These are large amount of investment, that will fund the infrastructure needed to support the predicted growth in jobs in Oxfordshire and ensure our economy continues to thrive.

Investment in affordable homes and tackling homelessness

In addition to the £155 million for planning and delivering improved infrastructure, we have been given £60 million to deliver more affordable homes across Oxfordshire.

The affordable homes won’t come overnight, but homelessness is becoming a national problem, and Oxfordshire has its share of the problem.

I propose that we continue to fund homelessness support for an additional year in 2019/20 by £500,000. This will be subject to the current consultation on supported housing, and discussions with our City and District colleagues.

In this budget, I want to make sure that communities have a say in how money is spent.

Community say in local spending

To achieve this, I am proposing a Councillor Priority fund. This will be £15,000 a year for each councillor this year and next.

If successful, I would like to see the fund grow to give greater decision making to local members as they understand their divisions the best.

I would encourage members to work with others in their locality. Perhaps they could find match funding to gain greater spending power.

I know that residents are concerned about highways so that may be where most of the funds will be spent.

But the money could also be used for day centres, community bus projects, children’s centres, village hall or homelessness projects.

It will be the members who make the decisions, in consultation with their communities.

I also propose to commit £25,000 on improving partnership working with parishes and town councils, which already do so much in their communities. Together, we can do more.

Finally, there will be £30,000 set aside for World War One commemorations to mark the centenary of the Armistice in 1918. I welcome views on how that money can be most appropriately spent.

This budget is not only compassionate as it is:

• increasing the funding on adult social care by £11.7m
• increasing the funding on Children’s social care by £8.5 m

It is also about localism as we are providing funds that will deliver local solutions by County Councillors who know their divisions best.

This is a budget that delivers for Oxfordshire people and Oxfordshire’s thriving communities.

COUNCILLOR IAN HUDSPETH

Leader of the Council

The council will set its budget on Tuesday, February 13 and the proposals include £1m in each of 2018/19 and 2019/20 for individual councillors to spend on highway maintenance issues or community projects that they may see as the priority in their own part of Oxfordshire. The fund will be called the Councillor Priority fund.

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, the leader of the county council, said: “It would be each councillors’ decision how their £15,000 would be spent. They know best what the priority is on their own patch. I am sure many will view highway maintenance and repair as important but others might choose to put funding in to community buses, libraries or children’s centres.

“Each area of Oxfordshire is different and it’s important we recognise that and give county councillors the leeway and latitude to invest the money in the best way they see fit. I am sure many will seek match funding from organisations such as parish and town councils. Councillors will also be able to combine their funds with neighbouring and nearby county councillors if they so wish.”

“The county council was recently given the very welcome boost of £916,500 from the national Government’s Pothole Action Fund, which exists as an acknowledgement that roads across England suffer deterioration during the cold and wet winter months. Councillors choosing to spend money on highway maintenance issues will be providing that support on top of this national funding.

World War One Centenary Commemorations

The cabinet is also proposing that £30,000 should be set aside for commemorations to mark a century since the end of World War One.The Armistice of 11 November 1918 ended fighting on land, sea and air.

Cabinet is also proposing to set aside £25,000 for engagement with parish councils.

Council Tax and Children’s Social Care

The cabinet revealed a proposal in January to invest finance raised from the ability to raise Council Tax by one per cent more than originally expected in to children’s social care.

Central Government revealed in December that councils would be allowed to raise Council Tax by a maximum of 5.99 per cent. It was originally thought this would only be 4.99%.

The additional 1% that has now been allowed would mean the total rise for 2018/19 to 5.99% with a proposed 2.99 % rise in 2019/20. A total of 3% of the 2018/19 must be spent on adult social care under national rules.

However councils are free to spend the extra 1% on other services and the county council is proposing to prioritise children’s social care with £1.9m extra being put in to this service and a further £1m set aside in contingency funding. Overall this means £8.5m is being added to the budget for children’s social care in 2018/19.

Services for the most vulnerable are the first priority

Councillor Hudspeth said: ““As we said in January when we took our proposals to cabinet we’re pleased that the ability to raise income by an additional 1% allows us to put more money in to children’s social care.

“We are seeking to manage demand in children’s social care but the protection of vulnerable people is the county council’s first priority."

The county council is working on a new road maintenance policy and wants to make sure that the day-to-day experience of road users is considered when deciding which roads to upgrade.

“Road condition is at the top the list for many people when it comes to what they would like to improve. You only have to look at social media to see this, which is why we want to take social media posts or ‘street tweets’ into account,” said Councillor Yvonne Constance, Cabinet Member for Environment.

Now, Oxfordshire roads are assessed and decisions made on where to spend money based on factors such as condition and the amount of traffic that use them – purely engineering factors.

However a ‘social score’ will be added so that feedback from communities and road users can help add weight to the case for work to be done elsewhere.

This means that feedback from social media posts, letters and emails could be captured as part of the assessment process.

Getting the most out of the maintenance budget

The updated approach will be a key step towards ensuring Oxfordshire gets the highest level of maintenance funding available from the Department for Transport and would also allow local people to influence how some of it is spent.

It is also hoped that money will be saved as the way in which roads are inspected would alter from a rigid system based on whether a route is classed as an A, B, C road etc to one driven by how they are used and risk.

Having a more of say on how your money is spent

Councillor Constance added: “Roads really matter to the people of Oxfordshire and so does having a say on where their money is spent.

“People make their views known in a range of ways these days and a lot of that is done on social media, so we should not just be listening but also using what residents say to help us make decisions.

“We spend more than £30m a year on maintaining Oxfordshire’s roads and through the new policy we expect that the public could have a more of a say in how the money is used.”

“It is well known that councils have limited resources but it still makes sense to ask people how we should use them.

“This won’t affect the reactive work we do all year round like fixing potholes and lights, but it should mean that people helping us to decide where to carry out more substantial maintenance like patching and resurfacing.”

Keep reporting potholes on Fix My Street

The county council still needs people to keep reporting problems like potholes, damaged signs and faulty lights via Fix My Street.

These problems need a quick response and using the online reporting system ensures that the details are sent direct to the highways team for investigation.

Fix My Street reports also help the county council to build up a picture of the condition of routes and the concerns of local people.

New policy for new national guidance

Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet met today to discuss an item on a new ‘Highways Infrastructure Management Policy’ which advocates bring a new focus to how decisions are made on spending money on Oxfordshire’s roads.

The county council’s current Highway Maintenance Policy and Strategy is based on the National Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance (Well Maintained Highways) which has now been superseded by the new national Code of Practice called ‘Well-managed Highway Infrastructure’.

The new national guidance allows for greater flexibility in how councils inspect its roads and spend money on repairs.

Developing the details with the public

Work will now begin on developing the details of the approach.

There will be public involvement in the development of the council’s approach to future maintenance decisions, and the new policy will include a way for road users to influence those decisions.

“In today’s announcement, the government sent councils a very clear message that we will need to pay our own way, by reducing our costs and raising more of our funding through council tax and business rates. We can do this in Oxfordshire, but only if we cut the cost of running six councils.

The pressure on social services will be partly addressed by giving some of the money paid to the district councils for building new homes to adult care, but this simply swaps money between budgets within Oxfordshire councils. We need to study the detail but this is not new money.

The county council has already taken difficult decisions that mean we are on a relatively solid financial footing. But we still face difficult decisions, including whether to raise council tax next year by the additional one per cent announced by the government. The council will be thinking hard about whether to do this, and are keen to hear views as part of our budget consultation.

The real story is the need for local government as a whole in Oxfordshire to save money to protect frontline services. I am convinced this can only be done by creating a single council for Oxfordshire that avoids costly duplication of bureaucracy, which council tax payers can ill-afford.

The county council will shortly publish proposals for a single unitary council for Oxfordshire that would save £100m over five years to protect services. We will continue to work with the district councils on a devolution bid to secure investment in infrastructure, but today’s announcement shows we cannot afford to turn our back on £100m to protect public services.”

Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council which co-founded England’s Economic Heartland Strategic Alliance said:

“We strongly welcome the publication of today's interim report from the National Infrastructure Commission which acknowledges the vast economic potential of the corridor connecting Cambridge, Milton Keynes and Oxford, comparable to Silicon Valley. We share the Commission’s view that England’s Economic Heartland is a national asset, one whose economic success is central to the future of the UK economy.

“As co-founder of England’s Economic Heartland Strategic Alliance, Oxfordshire County Council is delighted that the Commission is encouraged by the Alliance’s work on strategic transport to date and agrees with our view that the full potential of East West Rail and the Expressway cannot be realised without investment in its wider road and rail network.

“We have long argued that East West Rail and the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway, can be a catalyst to bring the region together to deliver the housing that is required in the region as well as the connectivity it will need to compete with the best in the world and welcome the Commission highlighting this in their report today.

“We remain committed to taking an integrated strategic approach to transport and infrastructure planning to secure the area’s future success.”

Corridor could be Britain’s Silicon Valley

Releasing the report, National Infrastructure Commission Deputy Chair, Sir John Armitt said,

“To succeed in the global economy, the UK must build on its strengths. The corridor connecting Cambridge, Milton Keynes and Oxford could be Britain’s Silicon Valley – a globally recognised centre for science, technology and innovation. But its future success is not guaranteed.

“Transport links across the corridor are often slow, unreliable and congested, and the area is home to two of the least affordable cities in the UK, in part because it has consistently failed to build the homes it needs. These twin problems are already increasing costs for businesses and diminishing their ability to attract employees at all levels – including the recruitment and retention of globally mobile talent.

“This area can become greater than the sum of its parts with better strategic planning which radically improves its transport connectivity whilst securing the tens of thousands of new homes it so desperately needs. This is a once in a generation opportunity – we must grab it with both hands.”