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Have your say on the future of local councils in Surrey

Take part in a landmark Government consultation on proposals to replace Surrey's current councils with up to three larger authorities. We support a three unitary approach - Find out more and read our consultation question guide.

Join us for a special online engagement session hosted by the Leaders of Guildford and Waverley Borough Councils on Thursday 3 July from 7pm to 8pm via Microsoft Teams. We'll explain what Local Government Reorganisation is, outline the different options being considered, and show you how to get involved. Sign up for the session (opens new window).

Chief Financial Officer statement about the 2025-26 finance settlement

Millmead Offices

Millmead offices
We've received notification of the provisional local government finance settlement from central government.  The national average increase in council funding for 2025-26 is 6%. However, this includes funds raised from an assumed increase in council tax. The remaining increase is new grant funding. 

This has been targeted at councils with:

  • social care responsibilities
  • the highest levels of deprivation

We will not be receiving any increase in its core funding for 2025-26. This assumes a council tax increase of 2.99%. The income that we could raise from this will be cancelled out by a matching reduction in government grant. We will have to meet inflationary and demand pressures on the council from our existing resources.  

What the government has promised

  • some compensation to the public sector towards the extra employers' national insurance (NI) burden that was announced in the Chancellor's autumn statement.
  • at present, no figures for individual councils have been provided. 
  • the £515m national allocation for local government only appears to cover a fraction of our extra NI costs of around £1,000 per employee.   

The finance settlement is again for a single year. A consultation has also been launched on a wider review of local government funding, with the intention of implementing changes from 2026-27. This is likely to include a multi-year funding settlement, which would help with future budget planning.

Other helpful information

  • our Chief Financial Officer is Richard Bates, Joint Strategic Director, Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer) for Guildford and Waverley Borough Councils.
  • social care is provided by upper tier authorities, which in our case is Surrey County Council.
  • a decision on the rate of council tax we will charge for 2025-26 has not yet been made. However the government has assumed we will opt for the maximum increase.