Huge cuts to public services in Coventry could be brought in by the council next year

Huge cuts to public services in Coventry could be brought in by the council next year. Street cleaning, parks and events could all lose funding.

Council jobs, free parking at a popular park and even portacabins at elections may be axed to save cash.

The authority is set to put forward options to save £8.8 million per year in its 2025/26 budget, and £12 million the two years after.

Plans show the council could axe £690,000 from its “streetpride” service, meaning streets in the city centre and “priority neighbourhoods” would be cleaned less often.

It means the council would take longer to do emergency clearing and remove graffiti, and fly-tipping could increase, papers say.

The council is considering cutting free or subsidised waste removal for charities and other groups that qualify for this, saving £340,000 per year.

It’s considering slashing £150,000 from its yearly parks budget, leading to fewer staff and activities and a potential focus on bringing in more income here.

Other moves on the table include ones that were put forward last year but did not go ahead after a backlash.

The council is looking at scrapping free parking at War Memorial Park, which would save £150,000 per year, and lowering the maximum council tax discount to 75% – saving £850,000 annually.

The council is considering saving £100,000 per year across elections with fewer portacabins, polling stations and a different count location.

Smaller changes could see it scale back council-funded city events, reducing capacity in its cultural services and climate change teams, and axing council news magazine Citivision.

But the biggest savings would affect other areas. The council could save £2-3 million per year in adult social care, and up to £4 million per year in children’s social care, which are areas of highest pressure on the council’s budget.

It is also considering a restructure of its senior management, which would save £1-2 million per year.

Outside of public services other “technical savings” of £5 to £3 million per year, mostly from manager actions and efficiencies, are being considered.

Councillors will discuss the proposals at a meeting next week, 10 December. People in the city will then be asked for their views, before a final plan goes to the council for a vote in late February.

If all the savings go ahead it will be the second year in a row that the council cuts £8 million from its public services. The council is also planning to raise tax by the maximum 5%, including a 2% adult social care precept.

Council must prepare for “worst case scenario” but things could look “radically different”

Councillors in the ruling Labour group said long-term underfunding and demand for services are why they are having to make cuts.

They said they had to prepare for the worst – but claimed the final plans could look different, meaning unpopular options may not end up going ahead.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service about the budget proposals, cabinet member for finance, Cllr Richard Brown said: “If people want to know and understand why we’re having to do this, this is that £1.5 billion that’s been stripped out of Coventry over the last 14 years.

“That £100 million a year, year after year, which has been stripped out, and I can’t ignore that.

He claimed Coventry has “faced up to the challenge” and taken “tough calls,” adding: “People don’t always like it but I think generally people understand the rationale for that.”

Cllr Brown also said Coventry is funded below the regional and national average and said: “the conversation we would be having with local people if we were funded properly would be a changed one.”

He claimed the council is “well on the way” to achieving a “really tough” £30 million pound savings programme agreed in its last budget.

But he said despite this, demand for services, inflation and record homelessness still leave the council with a £14 million gap. He added: “You’re then looking at areas that you don’t want to go.

“We are really scraping around the bottom of the barrel there.” Cllr Brown said there is more uncertainty over this year’s budget than in previous years but it is not clear yet if these will benefit Coventry.

He stressed he has to plan for the “worst case scenario” but is still “hoping for the best.”

Coventry council leader Cllr George Duggins (Longford, Lab) said this year’s change in government could affect how things look in February.

“This could look radically different, and some of the things that are very unpopular we wouldn’t even be touching,” he added.

“Until we get the settlement, until it’s all unpacked, we won’t know what the impact is upon us. And so what we are doing is consulting on an all things being equal basis.”

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