For the first time post-Covid, the council has set a balanced budget for 2026/27 without the need to draw on balances.
Thanks to a decade of balancing the budget initiatives which saw it save £10 million while protecting frontline services, and a better-than-expected multi-year financial settlement from central government, the authority will be able to start to build back its finances and support its financial sustainability through to the expected reorganisation of local government in Kent in 2028.
Presenting the authority’s budget for the coming year at last night’s (Tuesday) meeting of the council, Cllr John Burden, Leader of the Council, said: “Back in 2020, we had a balanced 10-year medium term financial plan, and we were looking to the future with confidence.
“Then came Covid and the financial landscape for local councils was thrown into turmoil. Demand for council services rose sharply, the costs to us of delivering those services rose overall, while our income declined.
“Coupled with huge increases in energy bills following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, rising interest rates, and wider economic pressures, all of this simply served to intensify the challenges we, like many councils, were faced with.”
Cllr Burden added that following extensive work by members and officers to reduce costs and bridge the budget gap, coupled with the announcement of its Government funding for the coming years, the council found itself in a transformed financial position.
He said: “We are now in a position where, while we still need to be sensible and restrained in planning our services, we can start to build back our total working balances to the recommended level of £5.25m and build resilience back to support our longer-term financial sustainability.”
To support that work, this year’s budget is based on an increase of £7.11 (2.99%) in Gravesham Borough Council’s Council Tax charge for a band D property for 2026/27, equivalent to an increase of 13 pence per week, with the new band D charge for the Gravesham element of the bill being £245.07 for the year.
Cllr Burden said: “It’s important to note, that the majority of homes in Gravesham are below band D and those households will pay less.
“Additionally, from 1 April we are making changes to our Council Tax Reduction Scheme which will see around 4,000 of our most financially challenged households getting extra support with their council tax bill.
“We only keep around 10p of every £1 collected. The vast majority goes to Kent County Council to help fund services they provide, such as highways maintenance and adult social care.
“Kent Fire and Rescue Service and the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner also receive contributions, and for those who live in areas with parish councils, an amount also goes to them.”
In his budget speech Cllr Burden announced £1.25million is being earmarked to allow the council to acquire stalled development sites within the Borough, either through direct acquisition or Compulsory Purchase Orders, as a way of bringing those sites to delivery.
He said: “We share the frustrations of local people that brownfield sites have planning permissions in place, but little to no progress has been made on building them out.
“In support of the brownfield first approach adopted in our draft local plan, essential if we are to meet our government-set housing targets, this funding will allow us to take proactive action where developers continue to drag their feet and refuse to work with us on delivery.”
Other measures announced included:
- Supporting the start of construction work on a new, energy-efficient Cascades leisure centre and continuing to invest in our other leisure facilities, including Cygnets leisure centre and parks, play areas, and open spaces.
- Continue the council’s programme of building new and much needed housing for local people through the development of sites such as The Charter and Milton Place, ensuring the needs local people are met through the delivery of social, affordable and independent living homes.
- Investing £1.5m of grant secured from the Government to improve community and public spaces and revitalise our town centres and High Streets. This will include:
- Working with parish councils and local community groups to invest in sports, playground and community facilities
- Investing up to £20,000 to address nuisance vehicles across the borough
- Installation of 5 new public space CCTV cameras to address existing ASB blind spots
- £20,000 to upgrade bins across the borough, matching an existing planned investment of £20,000
- Helping women and girls feel safer in Gravesend town centre by investing in new lighting and updating public spaces around Gravesend station
- Continue investment in our street cleaning teams, supporting them in their work which sees an average of 8 tonnes of street litter cleared every day.
- Continuing to support residents through direct financial support and signposting to partner agencies for those who need it, continuing to reduce (down 4.2% in the past 12 months) the number of vulnerable households in relative poverty in the borough.
- Reinstating the Christmas tree on Community Square; investing a further £20,000 in Christmas lights across the town centre; exploring ideas to bring more people into town during the festive period, including introducing a traditional riverside Christmas Market
Cllr Burden added: “Following discussion with the Leader of the opposition Conservative group, we are happy to have agreed to include two additional measures suggested by them.
“The first is an extension of the work we are doing to support our small business community here in the borough. We already provide hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of business support through sharing Government funding such as Pride in Place and UK Shared Prosperity Fund, together with discretionary business rates relief and Enterprise Zone benefits.
“And now we have agreed to the establishment of a Small Business Support package to reduce operating costs, improve certainty and support our borough’s small and independent businesses through challenging times.”
The Second initiative agreed between the two parties is the establishment of a Gravesham Community Lottery, to be delivered through an external lottery manager to generate additional funding for our non-statutory community work and provide small grants for voluntary, community and not-for-profit organisations operating within the borough.
Cllr Burden said: “A lot of hard work and dedication has gone in to getting this council back into a position where it has a balanced and sustainable financial position for the foreseeable future.
“A future in which we will continue to work hard to support all within our community, but especially those who still face financial hardship and who deserve all the help we can give them.”