Your Bucks, Your Say on Buckinghamshire Council priorities and budget

• Opportunity and aspiration for all
  • We want Buckinghamshire to be a place where everyone can thrive.
  • We will champion education, skills, and employment – supporting our schools, investing in young people, and helping residents of all ages to succeed.
  • We will back local businesses, attract investment, and ensure that prosperity is shared across all parts of the county – rural and urban alike.
• Shaping great places
  • We will invest in the places that make Buckinghamshire special – our towns, villages, and countryside. From regenerating our high streets to improving roads, transport, and green spaces, we will deliver visible improvements that reflect local priorities.
  • We will champion placemaking that celebrates our heritage, strengthens local identity, and supports sustainable growth. Communities will be at the heart of shaping the places they call home.
• Thriving communities
  • We believe in the power of strong, connected communities. We will support local initiatives, strengthen civic participation, and work with voluntary, faith, and community groups to build resilience and pride in place.
  • We will ensure that every resident has a voice in shaping their community and that every neighbourhood has the opportunity to flourish.
  • We will collaborate with partners and engage others where appropriate, recognising that meaningful progress cannot be achieved in isolation.
• Supporting the most vulnerable
  • Protecting and supporting our most vulnerable residents is a fundamental duty.
  • We will continue to deliver compassionate, high-quality care for children, older people, and those with additional needs. Our approach will focus on prevention, early intervention, and helping people live with dignity and independence.
  • We will work closely with families, carers, and partners to ensure support is timely, tailored, and effective.

The Government recently launched its Fair Funding Review consultation which seeks to redistribute Local Authorities’ spending power. Early indications are that there will be a negative impact on Buckinghamshire as the government seeks to redistribute funding. This is still subject to the outcome of the national consultation and, as a council, we need to plan for a number of different scenarios ahead of the final settlement announcement in Autumn/Winter 2025 (i.e. the amount of central funding that Buckinghamshire will receive).

• 79.6% comes from Council Tax
• 12.5% comes from Business Rates
• 7.2% comes from un-ringfenced grants
• 0.7% comes from the New Homes Bonus

The New Homes Bonus has been paid to councils for a significant number of years to support and encourage the creation of additional housing to address the national housing shortage. The Government has announced it is removing the New Homes Bonus so we will not be receiving this funding for 2026/27.

Funding for the running of our schools is not set or controlled by the council. We distribute this to schools on behalf of government as part of the Dedicated Schools Grant.

Public Health services are funded by specific grants. The grants are used in a variety of ways, such as support for alcohol and drug addiction, stopping smoking, eating healthily, ageing well and being more active.

Adult Social Care:

• Care and support services for older people and vulnerable adults which includes support for people:
  • living at home
  • living in care
  • coming out of hospital
  • with disabilities
• Mental health services

Children’s Social Care:

• Improving outcomes and actively promoting the life chances of children in care and care leavers
• Safeguarding and encouraging the welfare of children, including protection against child sexual exploitation
• Support for children with disabilities
• Fostering and adoption services
• Helping young people stay away from crime and avoid re-offending

Roads and Transportation:

• Road maintenance including inspections, pothole and road repairs, drainage and emergency response
• Public transport, client transport and home to school transport
• Transport strategy, including our ambitions, policies and plans for future investment in local transport
• Keeping roads safe, including winter gritting, and improving the flow of traffic
• Rights of way, including footpaths

Waste and Recycling:

• Collection and disposal of waste, including fly-tipping and littering
• Household waste recycling centres
• Converting non-recyclable waste into electricity (Energy from waste)

Customer Services:

• Customer Contact Centre
• Face to face information, advice and support to residents at Council Access Points
• Digital and web services

Education (excluding the schools’ Dedicated Schools Grant):

• School admissions, school improvement and school place planning
• Support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities
• Support for young people not in education, employment or training
• Early help for children and young people
• Adult learning and skills

Planning:

• Advice services and management of the planning application process
• Investigating alleged breaches and taking enforcement action where appropriate
• Building control
• Development management, including highways
• Strategic and local planning policy, including local development plans and neighbourhood planning

Housing and Homelessness:

• Advice when looking for a home
• Help if you’re homeless or at risk of homelessness
• Housing grants, loans and debt advice

Culture and Leisure:

• Country parks, parks and play areas
• Leisure centres
• Libraries
• Arts and culture
• Museums and heritage including archives

Regulatory Services:

• Cemeteries and crematoria
• Environmental health including food safety, health and safety in the workplace, pollution control and housing standards
• Trading standards
• Coroners
• Licensing
• Registrars and celebratory services

Community Safety:

• Crime, anti-social behaviour and drug or alcohol abuse
• Domestic abuse, sexual violence, stalking or harassment
• Extremism and terrorism
• Modern slavery and child exploitation

Community Boards:

• Local partnerships between the council, community groups, organisations and local people to identify key local issues and take action to address them

Street Cleaning:

• Street cleansing
• Grounds maintenance
• Dog control

Environment:

• Protecting and improving the environment
• Tackling the challenges presented by climate change
• Energy and water management
• Flood management

Strategic Infrastructure, Town Centre Regeneration and Economic Growth:

• Highways infrastructure projects
• Town centre regeneration
• Supporting the local economy through jobs, skills, homes and amenities

Net spend is expenditure minus the income we receive from customers and ringfenced grants.