Budget 2025-26: A citywide conversation

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How council finances impact you

Are you a city council resident? Do you have a business in Norwich? Do you use any of our services? If you answered yes, then how we invest in your local services will affect you and your daily life. Every year we must agree a budget that sets out how much we intend to spend and where that money will be coming from. Next year we will spend around £100 million on vital services across the city you rely on us to provide.

While our funding from central government has gone down, the cost of things like energy and materials has gone up due to inflation. The cost-of-living crisis has also meant more people need our help, creating extra demand for council services. This has resulted in a lot of local councils effectively going bankrupt. Despite these profound challenges, the city council has a strong record of sound financial management – this includes seeking out wise investment opportunities and continually finding ways to streamline everything we do so we can be as efficient as possible.

All that careful work, over many years, means we are able to propose ways to balance our budget for next year that would mean no cuts to frontline services and continued investment in our services, our people and our city.

Delivering your priorities

What we do next year must help to deliver your overall priorities for the future of Norwich.

Last year, for the first time, we went out to the whole city to ask what was important to you and welcomed more than 900 conversations with residents, businesses, and the volunteer and creative sector. They told us we need to be:

  • An open and modern council
  • A prosperous Norwich
  • A fairer Norwich
  • A climate responsive Norwich
  • A future-proof Norwich

We’ve used these priorities in our We Are Norwich community-led plan for 2024-29 to steer us through our decision making about how we set our budget for 2025-26.

Our budget pledges to you

Over the past three years we’ve asked which services matter most to you and you’ve consistently told us your top three are:

  • Parks and green spaces
  • Waste and recycling
  • Housing services

We heard your feedback and as a result, we will be making budget pledges in these areas, and others, for 2025-26.

How council finances impact you

Are you a city council resident? Do you have a business in Norwich? Do you use any of our services? If you answered yes, then how we invest in your local services will affect you and your daily life. Every year we must agree a budget that sets out how much we intend to spend and where that money will be coming from. Next year we will spend around £100 million on vital services across the city you rely on us to provide.

While our funding from central government has gone down, the cost of things like energy and materials has gone up due to inflation. The cost-of-living crisis has also meant more people need our help, creating extra demand for council services. This has resulted in a lot of local councils effectively going bankrupt. Despite these profound challenges, the city council has a strong record of sound financial management – this includes seeking out wise investment opportunities and continually finding ways to streamline everything we do so we can be as efficient as possible.

All that careful work, over many years, means we are able to propose ways to balance our budget for next year that would mean no cuts to frontline services and continued investment in our services, our people and our city.

Delivering your priorities

What we do next year must help to deliver your overall priorities for the future of Norwich.

Last year, for the first time, we went out to the whole city to ask what was important to you and welcomed more than 900 conversations with residents, businesses, and the volunteer and creative sector. They told us we need to be:

  • An open and modern council
  • A prosperous Norwich
  • A fairer Norwich
  • A climate responsive Norwich
  • A future-proof Norwich

We’ve used these priorities in our We Are Norwich community-led plan for 2024-29 to steer us through our decision making about how we set our budget for 2025-26.

Our budget pledges to you

Over the past three years we’ve asked which services matter most to you and you’ve consistently told us your top three are:

  • Parks and green spaces
  • Waste and recycling
  • Housing services

We heard your feedback and as a result, we will be making budget pledges in these areas, and others, for 2025-26.

  • Survey

    40 responses

    As the council looks to set its budget for 2025-26, we would appreciate a few minutes of your time to take part in our survey.

    Take Survey
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Page last updated: 12 Dec 2024, 11:31 AM