Tameside Council is responsible for the delivery of a range of services from residential and nursing care for the elderly, through to street cleaning and bin collections. Many Services are statutory, meaning we have a legal obligation to provide them. Last year, our gross annual spend was £681 million, made up of £406 million from Council Tax, Business Rates and other income, and £275 million from the government. £339 million is spent on children and adult’s services.
The Council will set a budget for 2026/27 that looks to the future – protecting frontline services and the sustainability of our finances to support growth and investment in the Borough. Last year the Council was able to build back some of the things that were hit by years of austerity, and we invested in supporting our most vulnerable residents and strengthening services to clean our streets, crack down on fly-tipping, and improve our highways infrastructure.
However, the Council's financial position remains challenging and, over the coming months, we’ll bring forward proposals to deliver efficiencies to balance the budget in 2026/27 and proposals to continue transforming the Council to continue to deliver the services that are important to you.
The Government is introducing fairer funding for councils which recognises that some areas in the country need more funding to meet the challenges they face. The provisional Finance Settlement announced on 18th December is the first multi-year Settlement in a decade and is the government’s biggest step to make local government more sustainable, and to align funding with need. Along with our own careful planning, this means we’ll be in a better financial position in future years. However, we’re still dealing with the legacy of austerity and financial pressures in services. We estimate that we may need to save in the region of £15million in 2026/27 due to rising costs and increasing demand for services.
Government funding calculations over the past few years also assume that councils will increase council tax by 4.99% overall – a 2.99% general increase plus another 2% to support adult social care. That’s what we’re proposing, but we recognise that times are tough for many people. There is extensive help available for anyone struggling with costs, through our Council Tax Support scheme and other cost-of-living support.
Please click on the following link to see where the money we spend comes from and where we spend it and then press Next below where we ask for your views to help us set our budget for 2026/27:
Our Budget ExplainedYour views in this consultation will help shape the final package of proposals for how we spend our resources. We want to know your priorities to ensure they’re reflected in our decisions as we begin to slowly build back and improve our Borough and the lives of our residents.
Councillor Eleanor Wills
Leader of Tameside Council
Have your say before 5pm on Wednesday 28 January 2026.