Residents are being invited to attend an interactive budget drop-in session at Westbury Library and share their views on what Wiltshire Council should prioritise spending money on in 2026/27.
There will be seven interactive sessions taking place across Wiltshire in October, with a drop-in session at Westbury Library on Thursday 16th October, from 10am to 12pm.
These sessions will provide an opportunity for people to talk to the Leader of Wiltshire Council, Cllr Ian Thorn and Cabinet Member for Finance, Cllr Gavin Grant, and give their views on how the council should prioritise its spending.
Cllr Gavin Grant, Cabinet Member for Finance, said, “Local authorities are legally obliged to set a balanced budget. Next year we face increasing demand for both adult and children’s services driven by a combination of more people needing complex care and market constraints amid a backdrop of unpredictable inflation rates and national budget challenges.
“While we are taking decisive steps to manage increasing demands, we want to hear people’s views on how they think we should prioritise spending in 2026/27, so that this can inform how we invest in key services and programmes to ensure we continue to deliver quality services that meet the need of our residents, businesses and communities as well as good value for money for Wiltshire taxpayers.”
The council receives nearly 84% of its core funding from local council tax and part from business rates. In 2025/26 the council’s budget is £527.420 million, more than half of which is spent on adult and children’s social care services.
For more information on the council’s budget and spending, visit https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council-democracy-budgets-spending and https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/article/7134/Council-tax-spending
