Barking and Dagenham Council has agreed its budget for 2025/26, amidst significant financial challenges affecting councils across the country.

The budget, approved at a full Assembly meeting on Wednesday 26 February, outlines the key factors for the council's budget pressures. These include insufficient funding from the previous government over the last 15 years, inflation and rising costs for essential services, especially in social care and children's services.

Councillor Dominic Twomey, Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council said, “2025 is the first time in years the core funding we receive from the government has risen. But this does not make up for the lack of funding since 2010/11. 

“In real terms, we receive 40% less funding than 15 years ago and barely 17% of our funding comes from Council Tax paid by residents. Like many other councils we are caught in a perfect storm. Funding for local services has not kept up pace with demand or the cost of providing services which has risen sharply. 

“Local authorities up and down the country face a similar crunch. This year alone we have made £16m worth of savings just to balance our books. Other London Boroughs are being forced to make even tougher decisions.”

Barking and Dagenham has high levels of deprivation and is seeing growing demand for services as residents face hardship with the ongoing cost of living crisis. For every £10 the council has, around £7 is spent on adult and children’s social care.

The borough is also young and growing - almost one in four residents are under 16 years old and 26,000 more people call Barking and Dagenham home than 10 years ago. 

Councillor Twomey added, “But we remain committed to providing good services for everyone. We have protected statutory services and we’re streamlining how we do things, innovating and prioritising essential services such as social care to support local people. 

“We have a laser focus on getting best value from every penny of public money that we spend. It has been a huge effort as we scrutinise everything that we do, transforming services, improving processes, and working through the solutions that are needed. 

As part of the budget announcement, Council Tax will increase by 4.99% from April 2025 (excluding the GLA element) - 2.99% towards the general fund and 2% ringfenced for social care. This works out as an additional £1.47 per week on an average Band D property.  

Councillor Twomey said: “We know this will be difficult for residents and it’s not a decision we want to take. But without more Council Tax we will be unable to deliver the public services residents depend on such as street cleansing, waste collections or libraries, and of course care and support for the most vulnerable in our society.

“Councils are facing severe financial pressures due to a legacy of huge cuts in funding from the previous government. We have all seen the huge financial challenges that the new government has inherited. And the damage to local budgets can’t be undone overnight. 

“But this government understands that councils like ours need fairer funding and we’re working with them to push for our fair share of resources. And we welcome their announcement of multi-year settlements for future years, which should give us more certainty going forward. We’ll continue to make the right choices, based our communities’ priorities and ambitions for the borough.

“For us, attracting new jobs, creating more training opportunities, and building new homes are still our top priorities. This year we opened the doors of London’s largest film studio in Dagenham - the second of two film studios now in the borough. 

“This will offer hundreds of skilled jobs and opportunities. CU London has gone from strength to strength and our Adult College is supporting people to gain vital new qualifications. We also remain London’s number one affordable house builder.

“And we don’t shy away from a challenge when it comes to finding better ways of doing things and achieving better outcomes for our residents. For example, in the last few years we have worked with our schools to remodel Special Educational Needs provision and create several hundred more local specialist places so more of our children can go to a local school. I’m really proud that this is now seen as a model for mainstream schools in the rest of the country.”

Support for residents

The council is committed to supporting residents who have been affected by the cost of living crisis.

Residents who are struggling to make ends meet are encouraged to get advice and essential support from the council, including help with energy costs, money concerns, food, and wellbeing.