Torbay Councils final budget proposals for 2025/26 published after feedback considered.

Torbay Councils Cabinet has published its final budget proposals for the 2025/26 budget after considering feedback on the draft proposals.

The proposals were initially published for consultation on 27 November 2024, and with the consultation having been completed, The Cabinet will determine the final proposals this evening (Tuesday 18 February). They can be viewed on their website along with the Cabinet agenda. These final proposals will be presented to Full Council on 27 February 2025 for approval.

The Cabinet is proposing a balanced net Revenue Budget of £147.5 million for 2025/26 and a 2025/26 Capital Investment Plan of £32.6 million.

As part of the 2025/26 budget consultation, although the feedback was mainly positive, a range of views were received through an online questionnaire and by responses and comments made on social media posts.

The feedback showed that 66% of those that took part agreed to increasing the homelessness prevention budget by £100,000 and 65% agreed with continuing to focus on early help, support and prevention through Family Hubs for Children and Families. 71% also agreed with increasing the repairs and maintenance budget by £400,000 to stabilise the current condition of our assets, including Oldway and the Pavilion.

The Overview and Scrutiny Board also reviewed the proposals and made recommendations.

In response to all feedback and taking into account the final allocations of funding from Government, some changes have been made to the initial proposals. These include the following:

• An allocation of £1.4 million to support council led housing developments across the Bay.
• An allocation of £500,000 to invest in play parks in all three towns.
• Ensuring children and young people receive the support they need to succeed in the future, there will be a £3.7 million increase to Children's Services, with over £1 million of investment in new activity and services.
• A further allocation of £150,000 to increase support for events in Torbay. This will not only ensure that our events team are able to build on the success of much-valued events such as the ‘Bay of Lights’ but will also enable our newly appointed Town Centres Manager to significantly improve the events offer across all three towns.
• To support sport in Torbay, £75,000 will be allocated to the base budget to ensure sport organisations continue to access funding and help them work towards becoming financially sustainable in the future.
• Additional Government funding for social care will be split equally between adult social care and children's social care. This includes a further £850,000 to support continuing transformational activity to improve outcomes and reduce the costs of providing integrated adult social care and health care services to our residents.

The feedback also showed overwhelming support was given for additional funds to go into two flagship projects - Operation Brighter Bay and Operation Town Centres. Both of these will receive an additional £300,00 over and above the current base budget.

Operation Brighter Bay is about making Torbay more attractive and safer, giving green areas more attention with additional cuts to grass, not only in high-profile areas, but also town centre and residential areas. The ongoing investment will also allow for the repainting of more white lines and yellow box markings right across Torbay.

Operation Town Centres will see the continuing collaboration between the Police and additional council staff in Town Centres, with the objective of providing more enforcement against those who engage in anti-social behaviour.

Cllr David Thomas, Leader of Torbay Council, said; "Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the 2025/26 budget proposals. When we launched the consultation in November, the approach we set out was one of strong financial management and creating a sustainable financial future for our residents and visitors.

"We are continuing to ensure our residents are at the heart of everything we do. We know there are ongoing financial pressures for us all, which is why we are proposing to allocate more funding to support the most vulnerable in our community. We also want to ensure our town centres and green spaces are inviting and welcoming places and that they support our multi-million-pound Capital Investment projects.

"We are confident that these proposals enable us to take a longer-term strategic approach over the next three to four years, which a number of Council's locally and across the country are unable to do.

"Remember you can watch both Cabinet and Council discuss the proposals live on the YouTube channel."

Cabinet's final budget proposals will be considered at the meeting of Council which is being held on 27 February. The Council Tax levels for Torbay will also be set at that meeting. This will include the precepts from the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority, the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner and for Brixham Town Council.