Council budget 2025 to 2026

Like many local authorities, Hackney Council is facing extreme financial challenges. This is because:

• there is more demand for many of the services we provide
• the cost of providing services has increased
• we received less financial support from the government between 2010 and 2024 compared to previous years

About our budget

The budget aims to make sure our outgoings will not be more than our income in the financial year from April 2025 to March 2026.

We have done this by:

• making nearly £25 million in savings from 2025 to 2026
• using almost £10 million of council reserves to fund services over the next year
• recently receiving an extra £25 million in government funding
• increasing Council Tax by 4.99%

We spend most of our budget on frontline services targeted at those most in need. The majority of the budget goes towards areas where demand and cost has increased, such as:

• social care
• homelessness
• children’s services

Why Council Tax has increased

The Council Tax increase adds around £1 a week to the average bill and provides an extra £5.5 million to fund vital services that people rely on.

The £109 million that Hackney residents pay in Council Tax this year will:

• help pay for the growing cost of supporting older and disabled people
• fund housing for families hit hardest by Hackney’s housing crisis

How we will spend the budget

Between April 2025 and March 2026 we will spend nearly £1.9 billion.

Ringfenced budgets, £809 million

Ringfenced money is for us to only use in specific areas. We will use ringfenced money in areas such as maintaining schools, managing council homes and paying Housing Benefit.

General budget, £541 million

This is money from Council Tax, business rates, government funding, and other sources. We use it to provide all other council services.

Capital budget, £539 million

This is money to spend on new or existing assets, such as building council homes and upgrading leisure centres. It can come from sources such as grants, borrowing and levies.

Spending this year will include:

Responding to our financial challenges

Our financial situation will mean difficult decisions, but it does not mean investment in a better Hackney will stop. These are some of the ways the Council is rising to the challenges.

Using external funding

This year’s budget includes £147 million in external grants for specific projects. This will provide extra funds to invest in the borough.

Investing in the long-term

This year’s budget includes more than £500 million on capital spending to improve parks, homes, leisure centres and other things the council owns.

Spending to save

Spending in the right areas now can help us reduce our costs in the long term. This means protecting investment for frontline services, especially in areas such as children’s homes and temporary accommodation.

Protecting frontline services

We will need to save £25 million from 2025 to 2026 and over £50m in the following 3 years.

We are trying to make the most of these savings by changing how we work and provide services. We will protect residents’ experience of using services.

However, we may need to make changes that will impact residents’ experience of a service. If we have to make changes like these, our decisions will be careful and transparent. We will prioritise the needs of Hackney’s most vulnerable residents first.