| At Council yesterday (Thursday 26 February), New Forest District Council (NFDC) approved its budget for 2026/27, ensuring continued investment in essential services. |
| The Cabinet had previously approved the Council’s Medium-Term Financial Plan and Annual General Fund Budget, Council Tax level, and Housing Revenue Account Budget for 2026/27 which has now all been formally approved by the Full Council.
NFDC Leader Cllr Jill Cleary, said: “I am delighted to present the Councils balanced budget for 2026 to 2027. Once again it is a budget that continues to invest in our services, invest in our assets, invest in our people, and invest in our place.” The approved budget includes a General Fund Revenue budget of £26.6 million which will enable the continued investment of services such as planning, waste collection, CCTV, street cleaning, grass cutting, and government funded housing benefit administration. An additional £2 million has been allocated towards the continued roll out of the new waste and recycling collection service, and the council has increased its coastal maintenance budget to £400,000 to allow for continued maintenance and improvements. An additional £61,000 has also been added for improved toilet cleaning. This is as well as further investment towards the Council’s transformation and ICT work programme and a £14,000 increase in staff training to enable NFDC to continually offer a high quality service to residents. £14.7 million has been approved for the General Fund capital expenditure, which will include externally funded coastal projects and improvements. £5 million is set aside to improve local infrastructure, habitat mitigation, and town centre improvements, with £2 million over 2 years to renovate and replace a number of public toilets. £19 million in Housing Revenue Account budget will be spent on the maintenance of existing housing, and £15 million has been set aside for the purchase and development of new housing in support of NFDC’s housing strategy. In addition, the council is investing £3 million for the replacement of vehicles and £500,000 has been set aside next year to make necessary improvements and maintenance works to Eling Tide Mill. The budget includes Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds allocated to community assets and infrastructure improvements, benefiting town centres, coastal destinations, open spaces, community halls, sports halls, footpaths and highways across the district. The budget also includes the council’s Council Tax for 2026/27 which will be £211.92 for the year for an average band D property, an increase of 2.99%. Cllr Jill Cleary added: “A clear priority of ours is also to try and keep council tax increases as low as possible. We have done our bit and have imposed by far the lowest Council Tax percentage increase of all the precepting authorities on the Council Tax bill. The budget is in accordance with priorities that have been collectively set by all members of this chamber.” The full annual budget reports are available at https://democracy.newforest.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=193&MId=8174 |
