A proposal to charge Blue Badge holders for parking in council run car parks will not proceed, given the significant wider council savings identified for 2025/26.
Councillor Nicholas Bennett, Executive Councillor for Transport, Highways and Road Safety said, “When the proposal to charge Blue Badge holders was made last November, we were facing a forecast deficit of over £53m in 2026/27 and there was a need to identify significant savings. I have decided that we do not need to introduce Blue Badge charges as we now have proposals for a balanced budget in 2025/26 and the forecast ‘budget deficit’ for 2026/27 has reduced to £26.6m.”
“Local councils across the country have issued Section 114 notices or are seeking Exceptional Financial Support from the government to borrow large sums or sell assets to balance their budgets, or to increase council tax way above the 4.99 per cent limit. Because of our strict budgetary policy over many years and our transformation programme, we do not face this problem. However, we still have challenging decisions to make in the coming years unless the government brings in fair funding for local government.”
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