Knowsley Council’s Cabinet has today received an update on the final 2024/25 revenue budget position for the Council.
A balanced budget at the end of the year has been reported.
Cllr Jayne Lonergan, Cabinet Member for Resources, said “I’m delighted to report a balanced budget position for the end of the financial year. This doesn’t happen by chance – it’s thanks to our robust budget monitoring, strong financial management, effective decision making and being able to invest in services that need additional funding due to increasing demand that we are in this position.
“We’ve faced some significant challenges over the year, with increase demand for our services and increased costs to deliver those services, particularly around home to school transport and Children’s Services.”
The Council’s continued commitment to strong financial management has provided the long-term financial resilience which is needed to cope with the challenging financial climate in which the Council is operating.
The Council remains well placed to deliver its objectives as set out in the recently approved Knowsley Council Plan 2025 to 2030. The plan outlines three key priorities:-
- Delivering effective, high-quality services and support for residents
- Encouraging growth that benefits everyone
- Delivering targeted support to encourage fairness and opportunity for all
Cllr Jayne Lonergan added “The fact that we are starting a new financial year from a balanced position puts us in a really strong position to be able to deliver on our Council Plan and ensure that the people of Knowsley are at the heart of everything that we do.”
Cabinet also received an update on the final capital programme position for 2024/2025 which showed that spend on capital schemes had been progressed faster than anticipated – with £1.235m brought forward from future years. Total spend in 2024/25 was £41.474m.
The Capital Programme in 2024/25 invested in a wide range of schemes, including improvements to highways across the Borough, disabled facilities and adaptations to residents’ properties, new mainstream and special school places, improvements to youth facilities across the Borough, the development of Halsnead Garden Village, and improvements to Huyton Village Centre and Kirkby Town Centre.
The Council’s total Capital Programme for the next three years is £97.165m, of which £67.764m is scheduled to be spent in 2025/26. The significant level of planned capital expenditure demonstrates the Council’s continued commitment to investing in the future of the Borough.
Cllr Jayne Lonergan said “The importance of supporting the development of local jobs and local businesses is more important than ever, and the Council must continue to do all it can to support the Borough’s economy during difficult national economic conditions.”