Setting budget has meant 'difficult decisions' says council leader

Medway Council leader Cllr Vince Maple talks about priorities for the authority's 2025/26 budget

Transcript

00:00We've got financial challenges, that's well documented. We're working our way

00:04through the plan to get to financial sustainability. That's meant some

00:07difficult political decisions and that includes levels of council tax and some

00:11of the fees and charges that will be going up this year. That's not, again,

00:14easy decisions but everybody in Medway rightfully deserves their council to

00:18have financial sustainability and that's what we're building in as we move forward.

00:22This year's budget in particular, we're absolutely focusing on those key core

00:27issues which are not just challenges for us in Medway but across the country.

00:31Adult social care, children's social care, special educational needs and

00:35disabilities and homelessness and temporary accommodation. Across England

00:39those are big challenges but we're prioritising those. We know they're

00:42critical to the residents of Medway along with those day-to-day services

00:46that we know they value and appreciate.