Skip to content
  • Friday 28 March: The quickest way to pay for your garden waste permit is online. Our phone lines are extremely busy. If you encounter any issues, this may be due to the high volume of users – please try again later. − Pay here: www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/gardenwaste

Vale’s 2025-26 budget ensures essential services and excellent value

Rigorous financial planning and efficient use of resources ensured that Vale of White Horse District Council could approve a balanced and forward-thinking budget for 2025-2026 that safeguards public services, despite the challenges of an unstable national economy.

On Wednesday 12 February, district councillors voted to maintain investment in key services while ensuring excellent value for money for residents. The Vale’s council tax remains one of the lowest among all shire district councils nationwide and substantially lower than the equivalent charge in neighbouring Oxford City, demonstrating the council’s commitment to keeping costs low while delivering high-quality services.

Thanks to the council’s careful financial planning, residents can look forward to receiving continued quality from the services they rely on; from one of the country’s very best waste and recycling collections to first class housing and homelessness support, vibrant leisure facilities, vital community support and essential planning services and licensing and food safety checks, all delivered by their district council.

The approved budget features funding to deliver improved leisure facilities, including a teaching pool at Wantage Leisure Centre and an artificial pitch in Faringdon.  Money for these projects comes from Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy funding the council has secured from developers of new homes.  This funding will also help to pay for tree planting and biodiversity projects over the next three years.

The budget also secures the council’s Community Hub through to April 2027.  This valued service provides practical support and advice to residents with cost-of-living concerns, including helping people to meet the cost of energy bills, household essentials and food.

Vale of White Horse District Council receives just 7 per cent of the total council tax that its residents pay each year.  The rest is divided between Oxfordshire County Council (78 per cent), Thames Valley’s Police and Crime Commissioner (11 per cent) and local town/parish councils (4 per cent). 

Council tax for services provided by the Vale between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026 will be set at £161.69 for a Band D property.  This means just £3.11 per week for a wide range of services including waste and recycling collections, community support, leisure services, parks and play areas, housing and planning services, environmental health and licensing. 

Alongside the 7 per cent portion of residents’ council tax, the Vale’s budget will also be financed by £8.8million in government funding, including just under £1.6 million in New Homes Bonus^ funding and £1.2million from Extended Producer Responsibility, a new national policy that requires larger and commercial organisations to pay additional fees based on the packaging they produce.

Cllr Andy Crawford, Cabinet Member for Finance at Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “Despite national economic uncertainty and lack of clarity over long-term funding for councils, we have again been able to safeguard essential services and provide excellent value for money for our residents. Our council tax remains one of the lowest in the country for a shire district and this is a real testament to our rigorous financial planning and efficient use of resources.”

“This budget reflects our commitment to the wellbeing of our residents.  With the continued investment in our Community Hub and improvements to our leisure and play facilities we’re ensuring that every pound we spend directly benefits people in our district.”

“Like many organisations, we are having to deal with the burden of increased National Insurance contributions which have left us needing to find more than an extra £100,000 this year.  While the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme helps us financially, the amount we will receive is only guaranteed for this year. 

“With a national review on the future of local government taking place, we are now in somewhat uncharted territory, however we must ensure that public services are not adversely impacted.  It’s therefore more important than ever that we have clarity on how our services will be funded both now as a district council, and for the longer-term, if and when local government reorganisation takes place in our area.”

To view the approved 2025-26 Vale of White Horse District Council budget, visit the 12 February 2025 Cabinet meeting agenda page.

Notes for editors:

*The Community Hub also led the district’s Covid response and is supporting people in the Homes for Ukraine and Afghan resettlement schemes, providing cost of living advice, supporting residents following Storm Henk, health development work and much more.

^The New Homes Bonus is a grant paid by central government to local councils to reflect and incentivise housing growth in their areas. It is based on the amount of extra Council Tax revenue raised for new-build homes, conversions and long-term empty homes brought back into use. There is also an extra payment for providing affordable homes.  It is expected that 2025-2026 will be the final year of this grant.