Medway approves budget after £11m extra support
Medway Council has approved its budget for 2025/26 after it was given £11m in exceptional financial support from the government for a second year.
The council said that the extra money was the only way to achieve a balanced budget, with nearly three-quarters of the budget used to "meet the growing cost of providing support for Medway's most vulnerable children and adults".
It added it can now borrow more than £18m to spread revenue costs over more than one year.
Medway was one of 30 councils awarded extra government support this year.
On Thursday, the annual budget was approved at a full council meeting.
It was also agreed to increase council tax by 4.99%.
This equates to an increase of £1.68 per week for a Band D property, to a total of £1,842.32 per year.
The council said that, amidst ongoing pressures, its budget was focused on "services which protect children and adults through social care, support those who are at risk of homelessness and provide services for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)".
It added these three areas alone cost the council more than £1.1m every day.
The council agreed to invest an extra £40m in its children and adult social care and education services, including £17.5m extra funding for schools.
Councillors also agreed to invest almost £6.8m more directly into adult social care, another £4.6m into children's social care, £2m more on SEND and a further £1.7m to provide temporary accommodation for those at risk of homelessness in the next financial year.
Medway Council leader Vince Maple said: "The pressures that local authorities across the country are under is no secret.
"More and more people need help, and the complexity of the help they require also continues to increase.
"Although we received a more generous settlement from government for this year, anyone who reads through the papers will see that our services remain extremely stretched."
He added the council had a "moral duty" to "help and support our most vulnerable residents".
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Council to ask for exceptional financial support
Medway Council
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