Torbay Council sets out £205m budget with 4.99% Council Tax increase

Torbay Council’s Cabinet has published its final budget proposals for 2026/27, ahead of a decision at Full Council later this month.

The proposals, first released for consultation on 3 December 2025, will be considered by Cabinet this evening (Tuesday 17 February) before being presented to Full Council for approval on 26 February.

Cabinet is proposing a balanced net Revenue Budget of £205.334million for 2026/27 and a Capital Investment Plan of £126.865million covering the period up to 2028/29.

Councillor David Thomas, Leader of Torbay Council, said:

"Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the 2026/27 budget proposals. When we launched the consultation in December, the approach we set out was one of strong financial management and creating a sustainable financial future for our residents and visitors.

"We are continuing to ensure our residents are at the heart of everything we do by ensuring continued financial stability in a very challenging budget position given the three-year settlement we have received from Government.

"It is essential that we plan now to minimise the impact of reductions that the Council will have to make in future years. This is why we are proposing a series of adjustments to our initial plans.

"These include strengthening our financial resilience by creating new reserves to support essential transformation work across both adult social care and the wider council, a reserve to fund the 10% contribution to SEND costs and ensuring Council Tax is set at the level required by Government to protect wider funding.

"We will be using existing resources to focus Operation Brighter Bay so that improvements are more visible within our residential communities as well as key visitor areas.

"We are confident that these proposals enable us to take a longer-term strategic approach over the next three to four years. We will continue to make the case to Government for fairer funding for Torbay, which has already contributed to an improved position in the final settlement.

"The Cabinet recognise that the funding settlement from Government does not allow us to respond to the consultation feedback received from residents, however we are committed to focussing any end of year underspend on the areas identified by residents as being most important.”

Following feedback from Overview and Scrutiny and residents, and taking into account the final funding allocations from Government, Cabinet has made several changes to the original proposals. These include:

• Allocating £400,000 on a one-off basis to support transformation activity aimed at sustainably reducing council spending in future years.

• Creating a new SEND Higher Needs Block reserve with a £1.7million one-off allocation to meet the council’s required 10% contribution to forthcoming national Dedicated Schools Grant policy changes.

• Establishing a new Adult Social Care reserve, with £730,000 allocated to support transformation and begin developing long-term funding solutions.

• Increasing Council Tax by 4.99%, reflecting Government expectations and the financial risk of reduced funding if the full increase is not applied.

• Using additional one-off Government funding received this year to help smooth financial pressures in future years and reduce the severity of savings required later in the settlement period.

The Cabinet’s final proposals will be debated at the Full Council meeting on 26 February, when Council Tax levels for Torbay will also be formally set.

Cabinet meetings are live streamed on the council’s YouTube channel and recordings are published on the council’s website.