Draft Council Budget proposals

UPDATE You now have the choice to find out more at our council budget webinar which will talk you through our proposals and what they would mean for our residents and our communities. Please find out more and register here

The Council’s budget for 2026/27 continues to be shaped by the Our North Tyneside Plan, which underpins everything we do. On 26 November, full Council approved the new Our North Tyneside Plan ambitions. These are:

• Better lives for all
• The best start in life
• Places to be proud of
• Good work and economic growth
• Housing and neighbourhoods that enhance lives

Like councils across the country, we are facing increased pressure on our budget. Government funding remains uncertain, and while Council Tax and other income streams help, demand for services continues to rise. We are supporting more residents with increasingly complex needs, which often means relying on costly external providers when in-house capacity is stretched.

Despite these pressures, we remain ambitious for North Tyneside. We are committed to protecting essential services, supporting the most vulnerable, and investing in projects that we know matter to our residents

To achieve this, we are proposing a budget that includes:

• A 2.99% rise in Council Tax to support essential services, alongside an additional 2% specifically for adult social care. Together, this results in a 4.99% increase in annual Council Tax bills. Almost half of our total budget is now spent on social care. To meet rising demand and expand our in-house provision—which is more cost-effective than relying on external providers—we require nearly £18 million in additional funding in this area next year alone. Our Council Tax Support Scheme will remain in place, ensuring that residents on the lowest incomes continue to receive financial assistance with their Council Tax bills.
• An Improved approach to managing communities and neighbourhoods meeting your priorities to keep public spaces clean, green, and safe and a commitment to keeping libraries and leisure centres open.
• Managing our assets and buildings to use them more effectively, seeking to increase the income we generate through rent and other charges and by reducing our running costs
• Continuing with our efficiency and transformation projects to ensure services remain high quality and value for money.

We want your views on our approach and on how we deliver the priorities of the new Our North Tyneside Plan. Your feedback will help shape the final budget, which will be presented to Cabinet and then to a meeting of Council in February 2026.

You can find more information in the documents and resources below, including a list of Frequently Asked Questions. Please share your views in our survey by 11.59pm on Sunday 11 January 2026.

NEW Our North Tyneside Council plan 2025 - 30

Key principles of our budget

Where we get our funding from

Scale of the challenge for the next 4 years

The spending pressures of the next 4 years

Savings over the next 4 years

Housing Revenue Account

Housing Revenue Account update

Housing Revenue Account income and expenditure

Medium Term Financial Plan project summaries