Council Tax in Oxfordshire to rise to 4.99%

Following Oxfordshire County Council's Budget meeting (February 11), millions has been promised in new funding for potholes, flood prevention and child services.

But it comes with a rise in council tax to 4.99%. It's the most the County Council can increase it without a referendum.

More than £50m of new funding has been agreed for highway maintenance for issues like potholes and highways drainage. There's also provision for flooding, after the county was hit badly in the past few years.

The County Council have also agreed new funding in 2025/26 for special educational needs (SEND), early years support and holding the price of joint ticketing at park and rides. There's also money to promote walking and cycling.

In the autumn, Oxfordshire County Council had said that it would face a £25 million funding shortfall for this year and the next, before taking account of any new funding.The net budget for 2025/26 will be £646m.

They say that this shortfall could be addressed, with additional money to allocate to services on a one – off basis, thanks to the new money allocated to local government and the council tax increase.

A total of two per cent of the council tax increase is ringfenced for adult social care under rules set down by central government.

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “We are pleased to be able to spend more on important services that people value ranging from adult social care for children and adults to highway maintenance.

“There is lots of good news for people all over the county and from all backgrounds in the budget we have set. This is all in the context of us carefully and responsibly managing the council’s finances and making efficiency savings where and when we can.

“While it is good news that we can spend more on priorities in 2025 the pressures on local government continue to increase and things look uncertain beyond 2025/26. All councils want more certainty looking forward.”

The council’s Liberal Democrat/Green administration accepted amendments by the Labour group at the council during the debate. Additions include investment in breakfast clubs at schools, the development of a business case for greenways cross-country cycle routes, finance to transform libraries into community hubs, further money for family help and SEND and narrowing the gap for disadvantaged children based on the work of the Education Commission in Oxfordshire earlier in the 2020s.

What's been promised?

• £1m of funding for the expansion of early years support (under 5s) so that all children can get the best possible start in life.
• The council proposes has allocated £1.141m of extra funding in 2025/26 relating to special educational needs (SEND) and education, health and care plans (EHCP). A total of £641,000 of this would be additional money to complete EHCPs more quickly and £500,000 to facilitate the provision of expertise from special schools focused on children with EHCPs who are in mainstream schools. An EHCP is put in to support a young person with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the UK if their educational setting doesn’t have the resources and expertise to support them.
• Meanwhile there is £2m of new money partly funded by new government grant funding to support families to overcome challenges at the earliest opportunity, prevent escalation and effectively intervene with problems.
• £400,000 additional funding to cover the costs of the increase in number of children with SEND requiring home to school transport.
• £3.6m for flooding measures including £2.1m for proactive work with communities who have suffered flooding and £1.5m additional funding for highway drainage in 2025/26, with the council moving to an annual highway drainage gully emptying and jetting cycle.
• £1m funding for revenue or capital spend to leverage investment in rail, including supporting active travel access, improvement programmes and the development of strategic cases and masterplans to prove the environmental, economic and community case for rail.
• £400,000 to support holding the price of a joint ticket (parking and bus fare) at Park & Ride car parks unchanged from 2024/25.

Spending on capital projects

• £38.6m for a two-year highways maintenance programme, which will extend surface dressing, prevent potholes from occurring and improve drainage across the highways network in Oxfordshire.
• A further £16.2m will be used to repair and maintain bridges and £4m for improvements in road safety.
• £11.1m towards the completion of Watlington relief road to alleviate congestion, noise and air pollution in the town centre.
• £1.8m for active travel measures to encourage walking and cycling including £500,000 for active travel in rural areas.
• £300,000 funding towards working with other organisations collaboratively on planning regeneration in Banbury Town Centre.

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