Budget consultation 2022/23

Introduction

On 8 February 2022, Oxfordshire County Council will meet to agree its budget. In this survey we are asking residents, businesses and others for their views on our budget proposals for 2022/23, including our proposed council tax increase.

Following the local elections in May 2021, the Oxfordshire Fair Deal Alliance formed to lead the county council. It has a vision to lead positive change to make Oxfordshire a greener, fairer county. It has developed nine priorities to deliver this aim and over the autumn has been inviting feedback on these to inform the budget setting process and to help develop a draft strategic plan.

You can have your say on these priorities as part of our consultation on our 2022/23 budget proposals to help the council set a balanced budget.

Background

The council is committed to the responsible management of the council’s finances. To reach our goal of a balanced budget for 2022/23, we are planning ahead carefully to meet current and future financial challenges. We are also working on identifying savings across the council to enable us to invest in our priorities and meet our demand pressures.

Challenges include uncertainty over government funding for all local authorities, the ongoing impact of COVID-19 that continues to place pressures on the county council’s day to day services and affect its income streams, alongside a growing and ageing population, which puts more pressure on budgets and services.

Our accompanying consultation booklet provides background information on the council’s finances and our approach to setting the budget this year. We encourage you to read this before having your say. We also recommend you read our budget proposals that will be discussed by the Performance and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 10 December 2021

Please complete this survey to have your say. All responses must be received by Wednesday 5 January 2022