‘Best budget’ approved by council

Council leaders in County Durham have hit back at critics and said Reform has produced “the best budget the council has seen in the last 15 years”, writes Local Democracy Reporter, Bill Edgar.

The party’s financial plan for the next four years was approved by Durham County Council on Wednesday (February 18), which includes a 1.99 per cent council tax rise and £12.9 million worth of cuts. 

Durham County Council will receive around £60.5 million from the government over the next three years after an additional funding grant was announced last week. 

Darren Grimes, Reform’s deputy council leader, said agreeing the budget was a “historic moment” for the party, which has been in power since last May’s local elections when it pledged to slash waste and inefficiency.  

He told councillors: “We have prioritised securing value for money, challenging waste, cancelling vanity projects and virtue signalling, all with a view to limiting the council tax increase as much as possible.”

The council’s budget says the authority faces a deficit of around £9.5 million in the next year and an additional deficit of around £42 million for the following three years.

Cllr Grimes, who is also cabinet member for finance, said the budget was prepared against a backdrop of unavoidable inflationary and demand pressures, particularly in statutory social care services, which face a deficit of nearly £69 million over the next four years. 

Around £264 million worth of schemes for improvements to schools, children’s and adults’ social care, and infrastructure have also been pledged as part of the council’s new capital programme. 

“Things are changing in County Durham,” council leader Andrew Husband said. “We have reviewed capital spend and aborted projects that were high risk. We will not be borrowing money willy-nilly.”

As part of the budget process, £12.9 million worth of cuts and savings are planned over the next year. Previous funding for town and parish councils has been cut and changes to the Council Tax Support Scheme have been approved, meaning most residents will pay at least 10 per cent of their bills. 

About £3 million worth of savings have been proposed in the neighbourhoods and environment department, including cuts to litter picking and changes to grass cutting schedules. Vacant positions for job roles such as neighbourhood wardens will be removed. 

In July 2025, Reform councillors voted to scrap the council’s climate emergency pledge, which aimed to achieve net zero emissions by 2045, and instead voted through a new ‘County Durham Care Emergency’ motion to prioritise supporting adults and children’s services. 

Cllr Grimes added: “The changes that we have made, supporting vulnerable adults and children, have been a top priority. We have gone above and beyond to meet those demands and pressures and create new places. 

“We have had to make some difficult choices to protect the hard-working council taxpayers of County Durham. It’s a pledge we made, and it’s a promise we have delivered.  

“This is a banging budget for a new administration and the residents of County Durham will thank us for our fiscal prudence.”

But Liberal Democrat councillor Amanda Hopgood said the bulk of the council’s savings, efficiencies, and service changes were already modelled, or being modelled, by the previous Joint Administration in charge of the authority. 

She added: “This year, financially speaking, was the equivalent of a ten-pin bowling match with the bumpers up. The real test comes when settlements tighten, pressures grow, and there isn’t millions of pounds of headroom cushioning the landing.”

Councillor Richard Bell, a Conservative former cabinet member, said Reform has been fortunate due to several funding windfalls from the government and disagreed with the financial planning. 

He added: “On balance, a lucky budget but not a wise one.”

Paul Darby, corporate director of resources, said he was satisfied the council has enough cash reserves for the future but warned that delivering future savings will mean “difficult decisions” will need to be made in the coming years. 

Councillor Chris Lines, speaking on behalf of the Independent group, warned of financial challenges ahead. “Decisions are being made now that appear to be very short-sighted and will create what could be insurmountable financial challenges for this council in a few short years,” he said. 

The member for Sedgefield added: “Despite the luxury of receiving a three-year settlement, the current administration now appears to be pursuing ideology over fiscal responsibility or fairness to try and score a PR point, while at the same time cutting services and reducing support for the poorest residents.”

Councillor Rob Crute, Labour leader, said the council finds itself with an “embarrassment of riches” due to the latest funding settlement 

He added: “The people who elected us to serve them deserve better than council tax increases, higher fees and charges, further cuts to services, increased borrowing, and breaches of promises made to the electors less than a year ago, especially when this council has been handed a lifeline in the form of a significant increase in funding for the first time in a generation. 

“This isn’t what the people wanted, what they expected, and certainly isn’t what they voted for last May.”

But Cllr Husband said the council is investing in County Durham. 

Concluding the debate, he added: “A massive amount of effort has gone into this budget from the Reform administration and officers who have helped us to produce the best budget this council has seen over the last 15 years

“Qualified by the fact that we have seen five per cent [council tax rises] in the last three years from the former administration.”