AS protesters made their messages clear outside the Parr Hall over the future of Woolston Leisure Centre and town centre CCTV, Warrington Borough Council rubber-stamped its budget for the financial year ahead.
Agreeing the budget comes amidst a huge financial challenge for the Council, with a budget gap of around £179 million across the next four years, up to 2029/30, the controlling Labour group unanimously voted through the cost-cutting budget, which will see residents paying more for less.
The budget was opposed by opposition Lib Dem, Independent and Tory Cllrs.
Part of setting the budget includes confirmation that Council Tax will increase by 7.48% this year. The Council has also confirmed £87.029 million of EFS for the 2025/26 financial year, and £92.047 million across 2026/27, in order to set a balanced budget.
The Council’s journey to financial sustainability will be difficult. Following budget approval, the Council will be working to deliver an initial £40 million savings package. It also needs to realise further savings, and quickly, in order for the overall budget gap to reduce significantly further.
Making savings of this scale means that the Council will need to resize, and all services will be reviewed.
Council’s most difficult budget to set
Cabinet member for finance, Cllr Denis Matthews, said: “We face a big challenge to become financially sustainable, and this has been the hardest budget we’ve ever had to set. We need to reduce how much we spend on providing services, while also reducing our level of debt. We therefore need to focus our resources on services that most improve and support residents’ lives, making sure that we manage demand for these services well.
“Rising demands and costs for services that support our young people, families and older adults are putting pressure on our budget. We also have a number of local challenges that have added further, significant pressure on our budget, predominantly linked to our over-ambitious commercial approach.
“We are putting credible plans in place to address our challenges, with financial support from the government part of this. The Council Tax increase this year moves Warrington from having a below average rate compared to our neighbours, to one that is closer to the average rate, while also providing support towards this financial challenge. But we don’t take this increase for granted and we know that we are asking residents to pay more, to contribute to addressing our challenges.”
Council Tax increases are normally capped at 5% nationally. In Warrington, the government gave permission for the Council to increase Council Tax by a further 2.5% as part of setting its budget. This 2.5% additional increase on top of the normal maximum 5% cap, will generate a further £3.429 million this financial year for the Council.
Cllr Matthews added: “I want to reassure Warrington residents that while your Council Tax will provide support to the Council as we work hard to achieve financial sustainability, it will also make a huge difference in providing help for local people.
“We will keep cutting grass, filling potholes and emptying bins, but the vast majority of your Council Tax will always go towards services that support local people.
“Through your Council Tax, you will also be helping us to support and protect around 2,400 vulnerable children and young people, look after more than 3,700 older people, and provide support to around 3,300 households at risk of homelessness.
“In that respect, while your Council Tax has risen more than usual this year, please be assured that the vast majority of your contributions will go towards helping the most vulnerable people in our community.”
Cllr. Stuart Mann
Ahead of the vote, Leader of the Independent Group, Cllr. Stuart Mann said:”The Independent Group represent communities from across Warrington. Different wards, different backgrounds, different experiences but united by one defining principle: We are independent. And tonight, each member will vote freely based on their judgement, their conscience and the residents they represent.
“We believe that independence matters because this is not a routine budget.
“We did not arrive at a request for over £300 million in Exceptional Financial Support by accident.
“Yes, national government funding has not kept pace with the demands of local councils, but not ALL local councils decided to undertake the strategic decisions about borrowing, commercial investment, leverage and risk appetite to the extent that Warrington did and which ultimately, through its failure, has brought our town to the crisis it faces today.
“And it is a crisis no matter how others try to wrap it up in cotton wool and present it as a ‘Reset’
“The scale of support now required did not materialise overnight.
It is the result of sustained political choices over many years.
“This situation is no longer confined to this chamber. It has been covered nationally in the press.
“Warrington has become a case study, not just because of the numbers but because of the damage to the trust and reputation of this council. And most importantly it is about how Warringtonians feel about their own council.
“By all accounts they don’t feel very good about it right now. Yes we were granted support — but not in full, not permanently, and with conditions.
“It is time-limited, does not provide long-term certainty, and does not remove the structural gap beyond the immediate years ahead.
“It is not a bailout. It is huge loan to cover revenue pressures which spreads today’s gap into future years and does not eliminate the structural imbalance.
And the conditions attached — particularly around governance and oversight — reflect the findings of the Best Value Inspection and that tells us all we need to know about how and why we arrived here — and what must now change.
“Only two years ago, during the 2024 local elections, promises were made about strong governance, financial responsibility and protecting the most vulnerable and frontline services. Residents were told that this administration would provide stability and restore confidence.
Yet here we are — requesting unprecedented levels of Support, raising Council Tax significantly, and proposing massive cuts to visible local services.
“Residents are asking whether the reality we are debating tonight reflects the promises that were given.
“Manifestos are not just campaign leaflets; they are commitments to the public. And when circumstances change, honesty about that change matters just as much as the original promise.
“The residents we all represent are being asked to pay more. Much more than any suggested increase in disposable income over the past 10 years.
“But this budget isn’t just asking Warringtonians for much more council tax, they are being asked to pay more and receive a great deal less.
“Proposed savings include reductions that people will notice immediately. Scaling back of CCTV provision — affecting community safety and reassurance. Removing school crossing patrols — affecting the safety of children walking to school. The loss or reduction of leisure hubs and community facilities — spaces that support physical health, mental wellbeing and social connection.
“Which we must add includes continued uncertainty around facilities such as Woolston Hub, where a motion of this Council three months ago sought clarity and protection, yet meaningful updates remain limited.
“And the reductions in wider services that support vulnerable residents and young people.
“Residents already see all that is proposed and will rightly draw their own conclusions.
“These are visible, everyday services that really matter.
They are what residents see when they walk down their street. When they take their children to school. When they try to access affordable facilities.
So when residents ask, “Why am I paying more?” — they will understandably also ask, “Why am I getting less?”
“It cannot be fair that Warringtonians are being asked to absorb the financial consequences of decisions they did not make. Those questions deserve an honest answer. Many residents we have spoken to are deeply frustrated about how previous decisions were taken and how public money was managed.
“They feel strongly that mistakes were made and that those responsible should be held to account.
“Whether formal accountability mechanisms can revisit the past is another matter — but the mood across the borough is clear.
“This position arose through choices, made locally, over time, by those in leadership, by many who no longer hold a seat on this council, but also some who still do.
“People want that responsibility acknowledged.
“They want transparency. And they want reassurance that the culture which led us here has genuinely changed.
“What makes this even more difficult is the sheer complexity of the situation. The borrowing structures. The capitalisation directions. The modelling assumptions. The reliance on transformation savings and asset disposals. For most residents, it is incredibly difficult to grasp just how serious this position is.
“Even for those of us with financial experience, these papers before us tonight require careful and disciplined reading.
“And it is precisely because of that complexity that suggestions that any opposition group — should simply have produced a fully costed alternative budget are disingenuous political posturing.
“Constructing a viable, legally balanced budget requires weeks of officer time, detailed modelling, access to internal financial data and iterative testing of assumptions.
“It is not something that can be responsibly assembled on the back of a scrutiny paper or a handful of amendments.
“We have seen this argument used before in previous administrations — the idea that opposition groups should somehow replicate the executive function without the executive resource. That approach mistakes political point-scoring for serious governance.
“If we are honest, that culture of showmanship over scrutiny — of headline over hard discipline — is part of how this Council drifted into difficulty.
“If this Council is sincere in its commitment to be better, then that culture must end.
“This group want to place on record our thanks to the council officers who have worked under immense pressure to prepare these documents.
“The volume of work involved in navigating this position should not be underestimated.
“Officers operate within the framework set by political leadership, and they have done so professionally in extremely challenging circumstances.
“But the responsibility for the decision now sits with elected members. And we hope EVERY elected member in this chamber has taken the time to read the papers in full to properly comprehend what it could mean for the communities they represent and the town we all love.
“We hope they have examined the assumptions. We hope they understand the risks. And we hope they appreciate the long-term implications of what is being agreed. Because this is not incremental change.
“This is a defining financial moment for our borough. It is legitimate to acknowledge national funding pressures.
“But it is equally legitimate to acknowledge that not every council has required this scale of Exceptional Financial Support. Local decisions matter. Political leadership matters. Risk appetite matters.
“This position arose through choices. And choices carry consequences. Recovery will require more than technical adjustment. It will require cultural change — in governance, in scrutiny, in realism around forecasting, and in humility about past assumptions.
“Volunteering must never be presented as a substitute for funded statutory services. Community spirit is a strength of this borough. It is not a solution to structural financial imbalance.
“Tonight, the Independent Group will exercise a free vote.
“Some of our members may conclude this budget is the only viable lawful option available. Others may conclude it does not go far enough to address structural risk. That is our independence.
“Regardless of party or group, every one of us was elected to represent the people of Warrington. That responsibility sits above party labels.
“Warrington is bigger than any administration. Bigger than any party. And bigger than any one of us.
“And we must remember that tonight’s decision will not disappear when this meeting ends. It will be paid for in higher bills. It will be felt in reduced services.
“And it will shape this borough for years to come.
“History will judge whether we faced this moment with honesty — or hid behind political comfort.
“The Independent Group will vote independently, speak independently, and stand accountable for our decisions on behalf of all the people of Warrington.”
The budget was passed by 40 votes to 17 against – with all Labour members voting in favour and Lib Dems, Independents and Conservatives voting against. There were no abstentions.
