Hertfordshire County Council invites residents to help shape its budget

The survey highlights how the council’s £1.2 billion budget is spent across a range of services which touch the lives of all Hertfordshire’s 1.2 million residents, asks people to consider where they would prioritise spending of finite resources and invites them to share ideas to make further savings and increase income.

Residents’ views will inform ongoing work to set a budget which is affordable and enables the council’s ambitious new Corporate Plan to be delivered.

The survey highlights the difficult choices involved in a budget setting process being carried out against a challenging financial backdrop of increasing need for and cost of council services, especially adults and children’s social care which make up 68% of spending.

These challenges are increased by the uncertainty about the potential impact of the Government’s Fair Funding Review, which will change the way that councils across the country are allocated funding from central government. Modelling suggests that the county council could lose around £50m a year in government funding which would have a significant impact on the services it delivers. The full impact of the Fair Funding Review will not be known until the announcement of the Local Government Financial Settlement in December.

The budget will include new measures to reduce costs and make every penny of council taxpayer’s money count. Since 2010, a total of £495 million savings have been achieved, including £46m over the previous twelve months and a further £42m in savings this year.

Cllr Steve Jarvis, Leader of Hertfordshire County Council said:

“Our new corporate plan makes it clear that we are determined to be a council that Hertfordshire’s people recognise as being on their side. One of the ways we want to achieve this is by ensuring that our residents voices are heard and reflected in the key decisions we make, including around our spending plans.

“At the start of this year we were confident that we would be able to set a balanced budget for 2026/27, which would also put us in a good financial position for the years ahead. However, the potential impact of the Government’s Fair Funding Review coupled with the turbulent nature of costs associated with our services, means we are likely going to have to make some difficult decisions in our upcoming budget.

“That’s why it is so important our residents’ views and ideas are reflected in this process, so I would encourage as many people as possible to fill in our survey and help us shape a budget for the next year which is both affordable and delivers our ambitions and the services that matter most.”

The county council’s budget survey is now live and remains open until Sunday 7 December. Residents can complete the survey at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/budgetsurvey