Folkestone & Hythe on the Right Track with 2025/26 Budget

An ambitious budget for 2025/26 has been agreed.

Folkestone & Hythe District Council will spend more than £19.5m on providing quality services for residents such as household waste and recycling collection, parks and open spaces, street cleansing, environmental health and housing benefits.

Meanwhile, the capital budget includes coastal protection work, a public toilet enhancement programme, ongoing work to deliver the Otterpool Park project and a major refurbishment of the Lower Leas Coastal Park play area.

It will be delivered on an in-line with inflation 2.99% council tax increase. This rise equates to approximately 17p a week for an average Band D property.

Other precepts, which make up – on average – almost 88% of the total council tax bill are determined by Kent County Council, the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, Kent Fire and Rescue Service and town/parish councils.

Tim Prater, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Governance, said:

“This budget looks to create an exciting future for the whole district.

"With a council tax increase of less than 3%, we are protecting frontline services, and – with Levelling Up Fund works starting in Folkestone in earnest this year – we'll see millions invested there.

“And that's all done within a budget that does not use our general council reserves to balance it – a properly balanced budget.

“Thank you to the staff and officers of this council who make this possible through their commitment to going above and beyond for local residents.”

Revised fees and charges for non-statutory services, largely in line with inflation, were approved earlier this year.

The 2025/26 budget was considered by full council last Wednesday night (26 February) and the meeting can be watched on the council’s webcasting platform.