Cumberland Council met on 3 March 2026 to set the Council Budget and Council Tax for 2026/27.
Full Council is the meeting where all 46 councillors take the key decisions on spending priorities, council tax and the financial plans for the year ahead.
Full papers for the meeting are available here:
https://cumberland.moderngov.co.uk
Budget 2026–27
Council approved the 2026/27 budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan for the authority.
The budget sets:
- Net Service Expenditure: £383.997 million
- Net Budget Requirement: £373.118 million
The council’s funding comes broadly from:
- Council tax: around £188 million
- Government grants: around £108 million
- Business rates: around £70 million 43a80265-b994-4a9a-83e9-25e3798…
The budget includes around £34 million of recurring savings alongside investment in transformation programmes designed to modernise services and reduce long-term costs.
The council continues to face significant financial pressures, particularly from demand-led services such as children’s services and adult social care.
In addition the situation is made worse for Cumberland because of the Government’s ‘Fair Funding Review’, which has changed the amount of funding which each council receives. Cumberland is the eighth worse off Council in the country (our neighbours Westmorland and Furness is the second worst off!). The situation was made particularly worse at the very last stage the Government’s review when a funding element which provided additional money for rural services was removed by Government. This has cost Cumberland about £10 million a year.
Council Tax 2026–27
Council approved a 4.99% increase in Cumberland Council’s element of Council Tax, made up of:
- 2.99% core council tax
- 2% Adult Social Care precept
This results in a Band D council tax for Cumberland Council of £2,002.64, an increase of £95.18 per year.
Council Tax by Band (Cumberland Council element only)
| Band | 2025/26 | 2026/27 | Increase | Weekly Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,271.64 | £1,335.09 | £63.45 | £1.22 |
| B | £1,483.58 | £1,557.61 | £74.03 | £1.42 |
| C | £1,695.52 | £1,780.12 | £84.60 | £1.63 |
| D | £1,907.46 | £2,002.64 | £95.18 | £1.83 |
| E | £2,331.34 | £2,447.67 | £116.33 | £2.24 |
| F | £2,755.22 | £2,892.70 | £137.48 | £2.64 |
| G | £3,179.10 | £3,337.73 | £158.63 | £3.05 |
| H | £3,814.92 | £4,005.28 | £190.36 | £3.66 |
Total Council Tax (Including Police, Fire and Local Precepts)
These figures do not include police, fire or parish council amounts.
When the police, fire and local parish precepts are included, the total Band D council tax for Cumberland in 2026/27 will be £2,511.32, an increase of £117.42 per year (4.9%).
(Please note every parish council will be different, this is the average.)
| Authority | Band D 2025/26 | Band D 2026/27 | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland Council | £1,907.46 | £2,002.64 | £95.18 |
| Cumbria Police | £324.00 | £338.94 | £14.94 |
| Cumbria Fire | £98.19 | £103.14 | £4.95 |
| Parish / Town (average) | £64.25 | £66.60 | £2.35 |
| Total | £2,393.90 | £2,511.32 | £117.42 |
Liberal Democrat Proposals
The Liberal Democrat Group always propose an amendment to the budget, to highlight some of the things we would do differently from the ruling (Labour) group. This year we proposed:
– More money for highway safety schemes (e.g. traffic calming in areas that really need this, e.g. outside of schools).
– More money for planning enforcement, to clamp down on people who flaunt planning rules and regulations
– An additional homelessness officer for the Council, to tackle the significant increase in people who are identified as homeless in Cumberland
– More money to renew grit bins and grit piles in rural areas.
Sadly these proposals were voted down by Labour councillors.
Questions
In addition to the budget the Council also had the opportunity for questions. I asked a question about the amount of waste which Cumberland Council is sending to landfill, and what our plans are to getting to ‘near zero’ to landfill, which is what is achieved in many parts of the country.
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