Time to Talk Budget 2026-2027

Welcome to our 2026 budget survey!

Every year the Council must set a balanced budget to fund local services including education and schools, social care, waste and recycling services, homelessness services, highways and transport, libraries, culture and leisure services. 

Council Services are paid for through a combination of funding from the Welsh Government, Council Tax and raising income via fees and charges. For Bridgend County Borough Council, there is an increase in funding of 4.6% from Welsh Government meaning we will spend £550m providing vital services to our communities and our funding gap for the coming year has reduced. 

However, after over a decade of austerity public services remain under pressure, and we must still find savings and increase charges for some services.  The draft budget for 2026/27 will be considered by the Council’s Cabinet on 13^th January 2026. In balancing the draft budget, it is proposed to fund financial pressures of £9.2m and to make cost savings of £2.4m. The proposed Council Tax for 2026/27 is 4.95%. 

Our savings proposals prioritise support for the most vulnerable, protect frontline services as far as possible, and ensure fair funding for education and social services.  This includes a net increase in funding to schools, children’s services and adult services – there will be no savings targets for our schools.

We have plans to transform how we deliver services to make them more resilient and efficient in the future, for example by using digital technology and AI to drive improvements. 

The following survey seeks your feedback about our proposals and due to a late increase in our funding we have some unallocated money available and welcome your views on where to prioritise this.

Thank you for taking the time to share your views and help us shape the future of services in our community.

Your Voice Matters!

We want to hear what YOU think about how we spend money in Bridgend. This survey will help us make decisions about local services.

Why Are We Asking?

Every year, the council needs to decide how to spend money on things like:

• 🏫 Schools and education
• 👥 Care for people who need support
• ♻️ Bins and recycling
• 🏠 Help for homeless people
• 🚗 Roads and transport
• 📚 Libraries and leisure centres

The Challenge: Everything costs more now (like energy bills), and more people need help. The Welsh Government is giving us more money this year (4.6% increase), but we still need to save £2.4 million.

Council Tax: We're planning to increase Council Tax by 4.95%.

Good News: We're NOT cutting money from schools, and we're protecting services for vulnerable people.