Oxfordshire County Council budget: Major investment in highway drainage for flooding included in first draft

Oxfordshire County Council has announced it would invest £1.5 million in improving highway drainage to help roads cope with flooding, as it releases the first draft of the 2025/26 budget.

The council said the improvements would help get water off the surfaces and reduce the risk of potholes during freezing weather.

It comes after the county has been hit with widespread flooding on the back of Storm Bert following a similarly significant deluge in January.

The council money would focus on emptying gulleys, carrying out drainage management and repairing infrastructure connecting the gulleys to the outlets.

The first draft of the budget sets out £5.4 million in new investments.

This includes allocating £1 million in expanding support for children under five, as well as £1.141 million of extra funding relating to SEND and Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs), with £641,000 of this being dedicated to completing EHCPs more quickly.

The county council’s cabinet member for finance, Dan Levy, said he was particularly excited to see more money invested in children’s social care and SEND provision but acknowledged that the authority has “a long way to go”.

The county council also revealed that the government’s plans to increase national insurance contributions would cost £8.23 million.

This would affect the direct employees of the council and other organisations who work with them.

However, the government has not confirmed whether it will cover the costs for county councils or not.

Mr Levy said: “It was a bit of a bombshell when the government put up employers’ national insurance, and we are waiting to see what impact this has on local authorities.”

Even though the council has a shortfall of £25 million, it is confident in receiving more money from central government to reduce this.

While Mr Levy says that Oxfordshire’s financial management leaves them in a more “resilient and robust” position than other councils, he hopes the government will not forget about Oxfordshire.

He said: “We wait to see what the government will do to tackle the financial predicament of local government looking ahead to future years.

“We would also want to see councils in all parts of the county being treated equally.”

The council is also waiting for confirmation from the government about whether they will be allowed to increase council tax by more than 1.99 per cent.

Mr Levy did not confirm whether or not the county council would consider increasing council tax.

The draft budget also allocates £14.1 million to meet financial pressures.

This includes £1.075 million that the council hoped to raise from the lane rental scheme, which allows the council to charge organisations more money when carrying out roadworks on the county’s busiest roads at peak times, did not materialise.

Despite applying for government funding for the scheme in 2023, the council is still waiting for approval due to the delay caused by the change in government.

The council hopes to save £17.9 million, including £5 million from reviewing third party spending, £1 million in using council land and office space to generate revenue, and £2 million on reducing council expenditure on staff.

It will also save £1.5 million from the introduction of LED streetlighting across the county.

None of the money from any proposals will be funded by the county’s reserves.

The county council will be told how much funding they will get from central government in December.

A consultation on these proposals has begun, and will run until Thursday, January 2.

The budget will be formally approved in February.