Alternative Budget Proposal 2026/27
Introduction
The Newton-le-Willows Independents have published an Alternative Budget for St Helens Borough Council for 2026/27. The proposal demonstrates how the Council could set a balanced budget while reducing the planned Council Tax increase and protecting frontline services.
The plan is based entirely on publicly available financial information from the Council’s budget documents, monitoring reports and transparency data.
Key Objective
The central aim of the proposal is to limit the Council Tax increase to 3.6% rather than the proposed 4.99%, while maintaining investment in essential services such as Adult Social Care (ASC) and Children’s Social Care (CSC).
This approach recognises the continuing cost-of-living pressures facing residents while ensuring the Council remains financially responsible.
Protecting Frontline Services
The proposal does not reduce statutory or frontline services. Instead, savings are identified from corporate spending and operational efficiencies. These include areas such as contract management, ICT systems, office accommodation and internal cost controls.
Adult Social Care funding would also be strengthened through a ring-fenced 2% Adult Social Care precept, ensuring support for vulnerable residents continues to grow alongside demand.
Proposed Savings
The alternative budget identifies £1.6m–£2.05m of recurring savings, with £1.17m–£1.53m deliverable in 2026/27.
These savings come from a range of practical efficiency measures, including:
- ICT system rationalisation – removing duplicate or under-used software licences
- Procurement improvements – better contract management through the STAR procurement partnership
- A modest uplift to discretionary fees and charges
- Review of civic and mayoral expenditure
- Office accommodation consolidation and lettings income
- Improved controls on overtime and workforce enhancements
- Greater use of procurement rebate frameworks
Together, these changes reduce internal costs while avoiding cuts to services used by residents.
Use of Reserves
The proposal includes a one-off £311,000 allocation from the Financial Resilience Reserve to support the implementation of some savings in the first year.
This funding is temporary and designed to cover implementation costs such as system consolidation or contract reviews. The recurring savings themselves do not rely on ongoing reserve support.
Council tax impact
After applying the proposed savings and maintaining social care funding, the plan results in a Council Tax increase of approximately 3.6%, significantly below the 4.99% increase currently modelled.
This represents a more proportionate rise during a period of economic pressure while still enabling the Council to meet its statutory responsibilities.
Finance and Section 151 Officer Comments
As part of the budget process, Council Finance Officers and the statutory Section 151 Officer (Director of Finance) reviewed the proposal.
Officers noted that while the savings proposals appear broadly achievable, several areas would require further detailed work, impact assessments and consultation before implementation. They also highlighted that some efficiencies suggested have previously been explored or partially implemented, which could affect the scale or timing of savings.
The Section 151 Officer confirmed that, based on the information provided, the proposal would allow the Council to set a balanced budget for 2026/27. However, he cautioned that delivering the savings could take time and may require reserves to be used in the short term while the proposals are implemented.
He also raised concerns about reducing the Council Tax increase below the Government’s assumed 4.99%, noting that doing so reduces income not only in the current year but also in future years because of the compound effect on the tax base.
Our Response
We welcome the Section 151 Officer’s confirmation that the proposals are robust and capable of delivering a balanced budget.
Our approach deliberately includes conservative Year 1 savings assumptions, transitional reserve support and phased implementation, recognising that some changes require officer review and normal governance processes before being fully delivered.
Importantly, the proposal:
- Protects all statutory services
- Fully maintains existing funding for Adult and Children’s Social Care
- Introduces a dedicated Adult Social Care precept uplift
- Relies on recurring efficiencies rather than one-off measures
The use of reserves is time-limited and consistent with CIPFA guidance, supporting the implementation of savings rather than funding ongoing expenditure.
We also recognise the long-term financial pressures facing local government. However, we believe that responsible efficiency savings and improved value for money can reduce the immediate Council Tax burden on residents while maintaining the Council’s financial stability.
This alternative budget is therefore intended as a constructive contribution to the Council’s decision-making process, demonstrating that a balanced and responsible budget can be achieved without placing additional pressure on households.
Frequently Asked Questions
This page answers some of the most common questions about the Newton-le-Willows Independents’ Alternative Budget Proposal for 2026/27. The proposal is based on publicly available financial information and was presented as an amendment during the Council’s budget debate.
No.
The proposal does not propose reductions to statutory or frontline services such as social care, waste collection or safeguarding.
All savings are drawn from corporate efficiencies, internal spending and operational improvements, rather than services delivered directly to residents.
The proposal aims to limit the Council Tax increase to 3.6% instead of the proposed 4.99%.
This reflects the continued cost-of-living pressures facing residents, while still ensuring the Council can set a balanced budget and meet its legal duties.Add an answer to this item.
The proposal identifies £1.6m–£2.05m in recurring savings, with £1.175m–£1.525m achievable in the first year.
These savings come from areas such as:
- ICT software rationalisation
- Procurement and contract efficiencies
- Modest increases in discretionary fees
- Civic expenditure review
- Office estate consolidation
- Workforce cost controls
- Increased procurement rebate income
No.
The proposal maintains the existing planned increases for Adult Social Care and Children’s Social Care already included in the Council’s Medium-Term Financial Strategy.
It also introduces a 2% Adult Social Care precept, which is ring-fenced to strengthen support for vulnerable residents.Add an answer to this item.
Potentially, but only temporarily.
The proposal includes a one-off allocation of £311,000 from the Financial Resilience Reserve to help implement savings that require transitional work, if required, such as ICT changes or contract reviews.
The ongoing savings themselves do not rely on reserves.
The savings are based on published financial information from the Council’s budget documents, monitoring reports and procurement data.
Many of the proposals reflect standard efficiency measures used by councils across the UK, such as:
- consolidating IT systems
- improving procurement processes
- reducing unused office space
However, detailed officer work would still be required to confirm the exact delivery plan.
Council finance officers reviewed the proposal and stated that the savings appear broadly achievable, but would require detailed reviews, equality impact assessments and consultation before implementation.
The Section 151 Officer also confirmed that the proposal would provide sufficient resources for the Council to set a balanced budget for 2026/27.
However, officers cautioned that some savings could take time to deliver and may require short-term use of reserves.
Finance officers noted that Council Tax increases compound over time.
This means that if the increase is lower in one year, the Council’s income will also be lower in future years because the tax base grows more slowly.
They therefore emphasised the importance of considering medium-term financial pressures, including future reductions in government funding.
The proposal includes several safeguards:
- Conservative Year 1 savings assumptions
- Transitional reserve funding
- Phased implementation
- Quarterly financial monitoring
These measures are designed to ensure the Council can still set a balanced budget while the savings are implemented.
The proposal focuses on recurring efficiency savings, which reduce the Council’s underlying costs each year.
Because these savings are permanent rather than one-off, they help reduce the structural budget gap in future years.
However, as with all local authorities, the Council’s long-term finances will continue to depend on government funding levels and demand for services such as social care.
The proposal suggests reviewing discretionary civic expenditure, such as hospitality and ceremonial events.
The aim is to reduce costs without affecting statutory civic functions or the dignity of the office.
No.
This proposal is an alternative option presented as part of the Council’s budget debate. It is intended to contribute constructively to the decision-making process and demonstrate that different financial approaches are possible.
The Alternative Budget was formally debated at the Council meeting on Wednesday 4 March as an amendment to the administration’s proposed budget.
Following the debate, the amendment was not carried.
- 14 councillors voted in favour of the amendment.
- These included councillors from the Independents, Conservatives, Greens, Liberal Democrats and Reform.
- 26 councillors voted against the amendment.
- This included 25 Labour councillors and 1 Green councillor.
As a result, the amendment did not pass and the administration’s original budget proposals were approved by the Council.
The debate allowed councillors to examine alternative approaches to managing the Council’s finances, including options to reduce the proposed Council Tax increase while protecting frontline services.
No.
The proposal does not support removing or reducing Remembrance Day services or special Armed Forces Day events.
These events are extremely important to the town and play a vital role in recognising the service and sacrifice of members of the Armed Forces and veterans. We believe they should continue to be supported and respected.
The proposal instead suggests reviewing non-statutory civic events and discretionary hospitality spending, while maintaining the dignity of the mayoral office. Important commemorative events such as Remembrance Day and Armed Forces Day are vital to the town and we would not support any reduction in those events.
The proposed 7% uplift applies only to discretionary council fees and charges, not to statutory fees set by national government or services used by vulnerable residents.
The Council has already implemented an average 4% increase across all fees and charges for 2026/27. The proposal therefore relates only to discretionary fees where there may still be scope for a modest additional adjustment.
Importantly:
- No increases would apply to statutory fees, which are set nationally.
- No increases would apply to services primarily used by vulnerable residents.
Discretionary fees typically include things such as:
- room or facility hire
- licensing administration charges
- some leisure or recreation services
- certain environmental or regulatory services
- commercial services provided by the council
These are services where councils have flexibility to set charges locally. The proposal suggests reviewing these fees to ensure they better reflect the cost of providing the service and remain broadly in line with neighbouring authorities, while protecting essential services and vulnerable residents.
The proposal is designed to avoid reductions to frontline or statutory services. Instead, it focuses on modest efficiency improvements across several areas of council spending.
In percentage terms, the proposed efficiencies represent relatively small changes within the overall budgets of those services:
- ICT software rationalisation: approximately 5–8% efficiency within the ICT budget by removing duplicate systems and unused licences.
- Procurement and contract management: around 0.15–0.2% efficiency across the Council’s third-party spending through improved contract management and aggregation of purchases.
- Discretionary fees and charges: a 7% uplift on eligible discretionary fees only (excluding statutory services and services used by vulnerable residents).
- Civic and mayoral spending: approximately 15–20% reduction in discretionary hospitality and non-statutory events, while maintaining key civic functions.
- Office accommodation costs: roughly 3–6% efficiency through better use of office space and generating income from surplus buildings.
- Workforce cost controls: approximately 7–10% reduction in overtime, enhancements and acting-up payments through stronger policy controls.
- Procurement rebate income: increasing rebate returns to around 0.2–0.3% of eligible procurement spend.
Taken together, these measures generate £1.6m–£2.05m of recurring savings, which represents around 1% of the Council’s overall controllable budget, while protecting the services residents rely on most. The approach focuses on better value for money, improved contract management and more efficient use of council resources, rather than cuts to services.