Sandwell Council asks residents where savings can be made

Sandwell Council said authorities faced "significant financial pressures"

Residents have been invited to have a further say on how a council can make savings.

Sandwell Council must save £13m to ensure it could balance the 2024/25 budget.

Residents were previously invited to rank areas where they thought savings could be made.

They are now being asked, in a survey, further questions about those areas. The deadline is 2 January and the budget will be set early next year.

The Labour-controlled authority's initial 2024/25 budget consultation took place over the summer.

The top saving areas identified were selling or developing council buildings, stopping or reducing non-essential services, charging more for some paid-for services, introducing more charging for non-essential services and increasing council tax.

'Similar pressure'

Deputy leader and cabinet member for finance and resources Bob Piper said difficult decisions need to be made.

The authority spends about £317m a year on its day-to-day services, such as bin collections, street cleansing, running libraries and leisure centres, he stated.

Mr Piper said it was "facing similar pressure to residents from inflation and rising costs" and the cost-of-living emergency was "also creating more demand for some council services".

He added: "The council's budget will, of course, be influenced by the Chancellor's autumn statement in late November and the Local Government Finance Settlement later in the year."