Budget 2024/25 consultation

This year has seen unprecedented increases in costs for both residents and businesses across Herefordshire and we recognise the impact on you and your families. It has also had a significant impact on the council's finances with large increases in costs across all service areas combined with unprecedented increases in demand in adult and children’s social care.

We therefore have to review all our services to consider what we can continue to provide. We'll need to make savings in some areas to be able to continue to provide services in others. Your feedback will help make sure we prioritise the services which best serve our residents' needs and requirements for support.

Have your say

The budget consultation ran from Tuesday 21 November until Sunday 31 December 2023.

We wanted to hear from anyone who currently lives or works in Herefordshire and is over 16 years old, regardless of whether or not they pay Council Tax.

We ran separate consultation events for businesses and local organisations. We also ran a series of public consultation events, listed below.

We asked you to consider the themes and proposed options for Council Tax increases below and read the background document:

• Introduction to the budget consultation 2024-25

and then to give us your views by completing an online questionnaire.

Consultation events

We held the following public consultation events:

• Saturday 25 November - Ledbury Market House - 9am to 2pm
• Thursday 30 November - Ross-on-Wye Market House - 10am to 2pm
• Friday 1 December - Leominster Market - 9am to 1pm
• Saturday 2 December - Kington Winter Food and Drink Festival - Oxford Arms, Kington - 10am to 2pm
• Sunday 3 December - Bromyard Market Square - 9am to 2pm
• Thursday 7 December - Hereford High Town  (Christmas market) - 10am to 3pm
• Friday 8 December - Hereford Sixth Form College - 12.30pm to 2pm
• Thursday 14 December - Hereford High Town (Christmas market) - 10am to 3pm

Budget themes

Our priorities for the 2024/25 budget are to:

• Continue the 100% discount on Council Tax for people most in need (This measure seeks to support residents in the community struggling to pay their Council Tax charge)
• Review the council’s assets to maximise returns and benefits (A review to ensure the Council’s land and building assets are used efficiently to get best use and value for money)
• Invest in potholes repair and the road network (To improve the road network and prioritise those roads identified as requiring the most urgent work)
• Raise money through increases in parking charges across the county
• Introduce a paid-for subscription based garden waste collection service (The introduction of a paid-for subscription based collection service would replace the current arrangement and green sacks for garden waste will no longer be available for purchase)

Proposed Council Tax increase

Council Tax was increased by 4.99% in 2023/24, which included a 2% precept to fund growing adults social care needs and a 2.99% increase in core Council Tax to fund all other council services. This raised an additional £6 million in Council Tax.

For next year, we would like your views on the level of Council Tax we should consider for 2024/25.

Please note: the Council has no control over the Council Tax collected on behalf of the police, fire service, or parish and town councils. Each of these bodies will make their own independent decisions.

• Option A: To increase Council Tax in 2024/25 by 4.99% general Council Tax. This would be an increase of £89.15 per year (or £7.43 per month) for an average band D household and would raise an additional £6.3 million.
• Option B: To increase Council Tax in 2024/25 by 3.99% general Council Tax. This would be an increase of £71.29 per year (or £5.94 per month) for an average band D household and would raise an additional £5.1 million.
• Option C: To increase Council Tax in 2024/25 by 2.99% general Council Tax. This would be an increase of £53.42 per year (or £4.45 per month) for an average band D household and would raise an additional £3.8 million.
• Option D: To increase Council Tax in 2024/25 by 1.99% general Council Tax. This would be an increase of £35.55 per year (or £2.96 per month) for an average band D household and would raise an additional £2.5 million.
• Option E: To increase Council Tax in 2024/25 by 0.99% general Council Tax. This would be an increase of £17.69 per year (or £1.47 per month) for an average band D household and would raise an additional £1.3 million.

How we'll use the information from this consultation

The information we gather will be used to inform our budget and the result of the consultation will be published on this page in 2024. Any comments provided will be treated as confidential and will be anonymised before publication.

If you have any queries please contact us at researchteam@herefordshire.gov.uk.

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