Photo credit: The Conservatives/BBC
BEVERLEY – East Riding of Yorkshire Council has approved the budget for 2026/27 at the annual Full Council budget-setting meeting held on Thursday 5 February.
The budget reflects the permanent reduction in the council’s funding resulting from the Fair Funding Review, alongside increased demand for all council services, particularly in children’s and adults’ social care.
Despite the reduction in government funding, a balanced budget is achieved through a combination of savings, transformation activity, a 4.99% council tax increase, asset sales, and targeted use of reserves to support financial stability while permanent savings are delivered.
“Our ambition is to transform the East Riding into a place that is not only beautiful and liveable, but also thriving, sustainable and future ready with the best possible outcomes for residents’.
Cllr Anne Handley, East Riding Council Leader.
The Council Business Plan 2026/27 sets out how the council will achieve the priorities for the East Riding for the coming year and beyond, within the context of the financial challenges. The Plan includes a 10-year vision, highlighting the many strengths and opportunities, to create and provide a safe and thriving place to live, work and visit.
Councillor Anne Handley, East Riding of Yorkshire Council Leader said: “Our ambition is to transform the East Riding into a place that is not only beautiful and liveable, but also thriving, sustainable and future ready with the best possible outcomes for residents.
“We are strongly focused on taking action to address the huge financial challenges and ever-rising demand for services that all councils currently face, through a focus on prevention, early intervention and transformation. We are transforming how we work, to operate a learner, smarter council. We will also ensure that the opportunities across the East Riding are seized, providing a platform for inclusive, sustainable growth over the next decade.
Long term vision
Cllr Handley said the budget should be seen as part of a longer-term vision to reshape how the council operates, rather than a one-year response to financial pressure.
The leader pointed to the council’s medium-term programme of service redesign, efficiency measures and organisational change, which she said is intended to protect frontline services while making the authority more resilient to ongoing reductions in government funding.
Cllr Handley said this work is already underway across departments, with a focus on reducing duplication, modernising ways of working and ensuring resources are directed where demand is greatest.
“However, with ever-shrinking budgets from government, and the significant impact of the Fair Funding Review, we unfortunately cannot deliver the priorities for residents without increasing council tax.”
From 2026/27, the implementation of the Fair Funding Review means a permanent reduction in the council’s annual funding, with an overall loss of nearly £62m over three years; £9.2m in 2026/27, £20.3m in 2027/28 and £32.2m by 2028/29. In response, East Riding’s budget includes a significant programme of savings and organisational redesign, expected to save £41.8m by 2030.
Prudent approach
Other councillors have also sought to highlight the council’s prudent approach. In what he acknowledges was the most difficult budget he has ever been involved in Cllr Leo Hammond, member for Wolds Weighton and a former cabinet member portfolio holder said in a statement that
“The budget had allowed the council not only to protect core services but to increase investment in several frontline areas, particularly those with visible impact on residents’ day-to-day experience.”
He highlighted an additional £220,000 for highways maintenance, reversing proposed reductions and enabling a higher level of pothole and footway repairs, alongside further allocations for flood alleviation works, support for veterans, youth provision, community grants and the costs associated with road closures for local events.
“The budget had allowed the council not only to protect core services but to increase investment in several frontline areas, particularly those with visible impact on residents’ day-to-day experience.”
Cllr Leo Hammond, Conservative
Cllr Hammond, who is also Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner said these additions were intended to strengthen local infrastructure and community support at a time when councils nationally are under pressure to scale back discretionary spending.
In his view, the budget represents an effort to protect what residents see and use most, while continuing to fund the core services the council is legally required to provide.
The 4.99% council tax increase will see those in a Band A property pay an extra £62.25 a year, and those in a Band D property pay an additional £93.37 per year.
Read the full budget: eryc.link/councilbudget