A budget gap of £16.3million has been forecast for West Sussex County Council in 2026/27
The figure, which was shared by Jeremy Hunt, cabinet member for finance, is based on a 4.99 per cent council tax increase, £26.6million of proposed budget cuts/savings and an assumed loss of £10million in the government’s Fairer Funding Review.
Paul Marshall, leader of the council, said: “Setting a balanced budget is extremely challenging as we continue to face severe financial pressures, caused by funding challenges, inflation and a continuing rise in complexity and demand for services. We are particularly seeing this with adults’ social care and children’s special educational needs and disabilities.
“We are frustrated that there remains significant uncertainty around the impact of the government’s funding reforms with a potential loss of around £30million across the next three years. Our final allocations will not be known until December, but we are preparing as best we can with the information we currently have and working to ensure every service provides good value for money, is cost effective, and contributes to our Council Plan priorities.”
The situation is better than was predicted in February, when a £27million gap was forecast – but, as with councils up and down the country, things remain stretched.
The proposed budget cuts include £7.9million from the adults’ services portfolio, £6million from children and young people, £4.7million from environment and climate change, and £4.6million from highways and transport.
One major issue remains the Dedicated Schools Grant deficit, which is estimated to reached nearly £200million by the end of the financial year.
Mr Hunt criticised the government’s ‘continuing failure to properly fund the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) budget for our children’.
The deficit is currently held off the books – an arrangement that will end in March, 2028 – but the council still has to fund it, with a loss of more than £6million of investment income this year alone. And that is money that could have been invested elsewhere.
Mr Hunt said: “Providing services to support SEND is a statutory service and is something government should be funding as part of that Dedicated Schools Grant. However, the failure to provide adequate funding means that, in effect, we are providing an interest-free loan to the Department for Education.”
The Council Plan and budget for 2026/27 are set to be approved by the full council on February 20, 2026.
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