Warwick District Council is launching two short surveys asking the public to help with prioritising its budget setting for 2026/7.

Both surveys will run until 19 January and the results will be reviewed at Full Council on 18 February 2026.

The first survey – budget allocation offers the opportunity to have your say on how the council allocates its budget by rating several proposals in order of importance.

The council presented its General Fund 2026/27 base budget as part of a cabinet report on 27 November 2025, consisting of recurrent and previously agreed non-recurrent budgets, and budget change proposals deemed non-discretionary.

Certain essential services, like waste collection, recycling, environmental health, and housing, must be provided by law and are therefore termed as mandatory services with a budget allocation to ensure these services are delivered in an effective, timely, and compliant manner.

Once this baseline budget position is balanced, the next stage is to identify the additional funding required to help to deliver the council's additional corporate strategy objectives including service growth, capital investment, and reserve allocations.

The results of the survey will help the council to prioritise the allocation of this funding. 

The second survey – second homes council tax premium asks for views about the impact of introducing this premium to second homeowners, as the council aims to bring second homes back into use and to improve the sustainability of local services.

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The availability and affordability of housing in the Warwick District area forms a key part of the Council's Corporate Strategy, which aims to increase the volume of high quality, affordable housing to help meet demand for housing.

The council also aims to ensure that there are resources to ensure residents receive excellent, high-quality services that are responsive and accessible to local needs, underpinned by financial sustainability.

The results of this survey will also be reviewed at Full Council on 18 February.

Portfolio Holder for Finance, Cllr Jonathan Chilvers comments: "It is important for the council to get its budget setting right for the year ahead and the best way for us to do this is to include our residents in the process and to understand which services are important to them.

"The council can't realistically fund every project that is requested, so we value our residents' views which will support the council's decision-making as it aims to establish a secure financial base for delivering good value services for the residents of the district."