Views sought as difficult budget decisions taken

Our annual survey has been launched to seek views on the Council’s priorities for the next financial year.

We are asking residents, local businesses and local partners to tell us what they think about spending across 2026/2027 and also about any pressures they are facing or information they may need.

The short survey is live now and runs until Friday, December 19. It takes around seven minutes to complete and can be found here: Give us your views on our budget | Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

There will be support in libraries and our network of Family Hubs to help fill it in.

Last year, your responses showed that there were some clear priorities, including creating more skills and employment opportunities; ensuring children and young people have access to quality youth activities and facilities; good quality sports and leisure services, improving green spaces and parks across the borough including planting more trees; and cracking down on fly tipping, littering and dog fouling.

 With balancing the budget, the most common response was to increase fees and charges (e.g. car parking, leisure charges).

We listened and have successful projects creating new youth services in both Blackburn and Darwen and spent money on parks, with a focus on Darwen

Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, Councillor Phil Riley said:

“We are committed to providing services that our residents need. We know that good services make a big difference to people’s lives.
“Like all councils, We are facing challenges and there is an assumption from Government that Council Tax will be  increased by 5% every year to balance the budget. Rising demand for services such as those to support vulnerable children is one of the biggest areas of focus for us. Some targets and priorities do change year on year and any feedback that we get from our residents is really important to help us make decisions as we can’t do everything that they want us to do.”

Councillor Vicky McGurk, Executive Member for Finance and Governance, added:

“Councils across the country have faced austerity measures and cuts to funding over the last decade and a half, and this has caused a considerable strain on our finances. “We are predicting a funding gap of nearly £19m so difficult decision remain. Knowing what people value really helps us as we navigate the difficult decisions to be made once we have our settlement confirmed later in December.”