A public consultation has begun into Cornwall Council’s draft budget proposals for 2025/26.

The draft proposals were approved by the Cabinet when it met in Truro on Wednesday this week.

The meeting heard how, despite some increased funding announced in the Autumn Statement in Westminster last month, the financial challenges facing local authorities across the UK means difficult choices must be made in order to balance the authority’s books.

To address those challenges, measures in the draft proposals include:

  • Increases in fees and charges
  • Some reduction in workforce costs.
  • Reducing levels of some services.

Proposals include increasing income from chargeable waste services such as commercial waste, bulky waste and garden waste collection, and introducing a new (chargeable) service for commercial waste at Household Waste Recycling Centres.

Adjustments could be made in charges for reserved parking spaces or introducing charges at some Cornwall Council car parks currently free, although there would be no rise in the current car parking charges to adjust for inflation.

Some services could also be reduced under the proposals, such as reducing opening hours from seven days a week down to five days a week at nine of the 14 Household Waste Recycling Centres. All sites would remain open at weekends and Launceston, Saltash, St Austell, Falmouth and St Erth would remain open seven days a week.

Other proposals included reducing the council contact centre opening hours (currently Monday to Friday) by closing at 5pm instead of 6pm, as well as reducing the amount the council gives out in grant funding, including by reducing the Community Chest funding for small projects by 50 per cent.

It could end contracts for some discretionary services for children and young people and support them in different ways, and there could be a review over the need for school crossing patrols in places where road safety measures such as pedestrian crossings have been installed.

It also proposes to reduce the amount of transport feasibility work undertaken.

The proposed budget would see Council Tax rise by 4.99 per cent, which includes a two per cent adult social care precept.

You can read more about what the budget will mean for Cornwall here: Council officers ‘tearing their hair out and losing sleep’ at next year's budget

Cllr David Harris, deputy leader of Cornwall Council and portfolio holder for resources, said: “Like the vast majority of councils up and down the country, we are faced with having to make some very difficult choices.

“Therefore, it is more vital than ever for us to hear from as many people as possible and to listen to people’s ideas on how we might tackle the challenges facing us.

“I would urge our residents to take the time to visit our Lets Talk Cornwall website and to read through the budget proposals, and to take the opportunity to have your say on the plans.”

How to take part in the consultation

You can find the budget proposals and the online survey at https://letstalk.cornwall.gov.uk/budget-25-26

The deadline to complete the survey is midnight on Sunday, January 5, 2025.