Rugby Council budget to focus on significant investment across all areas of the Borough

In June 2024, Rugby Labour formed a new Administration to lead the Council as part of a Confidence and Supply Agreement with the Liberal Democrat group. Central to that agreement was a joint corporate strategy and a joint budget. Recent months have seen the two groups work with senior officers and a new Acting Chief Executive to review Council operations and expenditure plans.

If approved by the Full Council on 13 February, these changes will allow the authority to invest £3.7m in services to ensure that the Council is better aligned with the projected service demands of the next financial year. 

This includes £1.3million for delivering the twin aims of laying a platform for sustainable economic growth in the borough alongside reducing inequality.

Through an updated policy predicated on two new themes of ‘Invest to Grow’ and ‘Invest to Save, the Administration has re-assessed its resources to ensure that a number of schemes may be progressed in the year to help Rugby become healthier, become greener, fairer and really thrive.

These include, subject to approval:

• £300,000 for property flood protection grants, following increased incidents of property flooding in some vulnerable areas of the borough
• £200,000 for initiatives that focus on health prevention initiatives
• £100,000 in grants that help local communities adapt to climate change
• £50,000 for parish councils (and preparatory work for a possible town council)
• £50,000 for improved Rugby Borough Council staff wellbeing
• £40,000 to support the council’s partnership with the Rugby Eco Hub.
In addition, the council will allocate the following capital items, subject to business case approval:

• A £250,000 investment into developing facilities in communities, for example improved community health and wellbeing hub at the changing rooms, GEC Recreation Ground
• A £300,000 investment in addressing inequalities including a feasibility study into providing a Community Supermarket
• A £100,000 investment in enhanced customer access at the Town Hall, improving the availability of council services supporting the drive for better customer service
• £100,000 to progress a feasibility study for a new Community Centre in Coton Park

All of the above schemes will be subject to individual business cases being developed in detail and then made available for external audit and reporting.

In addition, the new annual budget includes a new Reserves Policy to ensure that much-needed regeneration of Rugby Town Centre, amongst other significant projects, can finally progress.

To ensure the council is able to continue to deliver its services, it is proposing to raise its portion of the council tax by 2.99 per cent, which is £6.49 per year or 12 pence per week for a Band D property.

This means the total average total cost of council tax for Rugby Borough Council will be £223.63. However, 65 per cent of taxpayers are in Bands A to C and will see a lower increase.

The authority will also seek corporate savings of £0.217million over the 2025/26 financial year, ensuring that it is able to meet its legal duty to balance its budget.

Cllr Michael Moran, Leader of Rugby Borough Council, said: “After many years of repeating the same approach, this year we are making a clear break from the past and ensuring that the council resources its services adequately so that it can perform better and do the job its residents and businesses expect.

"Moreover, this is being done without any dramatic increase in Council Tax or external borrowing.

“I want to thank my Labour colleagues, and Liberal Democrat Councillors, for working together to really take a fresh look at how the Council is run.

"This budget ensures real investment into both front line services as well as preparing a platform for delivering on plans to regenerate the town centre and other long-held projects”

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, said: “The budget this year fully supports a new way of working for residents in the Borough. The drive is to ensure we deliver improved services and invest for the future.

"I along with my fellow Councillors are committed to this new progressive way of working and will also be focusing on regeneration of the Rugby. The talking has to stop and we need to get on and deliver.” 

Cllr Ish Mistry, Deputy Leader of Rugby Borough Council and portfolio holder for finance, performance, legal and governance said: “Our approach to our Medium Term Financial Planning and budget setting has changed significantly this year, meaning that we are better able to serve our residents and businesses. This approach is more realistic and more sensible than the approach taken in previous years.

“We also recognise that tangible progress on modernising and transforming our services has been limited in previous years and we need to see much more rapid changes. Previous efforts to commercialise our services and generate new income sources have also not brought in the revenue that they should.

"We have to now re-focus our resources to ensure that we can deliver our ambitious corporate strategy successfully, and this is an area where we will pay particular attention to ensure the council is best placed to give our residents and businesses the service they deserve.”

Cllr Isabelle McKenzie, Deputy Leader Liberal Democrats, said: “Already this year we have invested in systems to improve customer service including allowing online payments for council tax.

"We are investing again this year, and along with a new Customer Charter, are spearheading better customer service.

"With growing demand for council services, we could not keep doing the same old thing and expect a better result.”

The budget measures were considered by the council’s Cabinet on Monday 3 February. They will now be considered at a meeting of the Full Council on Thursday 13 February.