West Midlands Mayor repeats pledge of no plans for a mayoral tax precept
Residents have been told they “pay enough” tax and won’t face an extra bill hike despite a funding gap for the West Midlands Combined Authority.
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Mayor Richard Parker repeated his pledge that he has no plans to introduce a precept in 2026, having also rejected bringing one in for 2025/26.
He was answering questions from WMCA overview and scrutiny committee members Councillors Andrew Burrow and Ewan Mackey at a meeting on Monday (January 28).
Mr Parker said the authority is facing a funding gap which he said was down previous “poor decisions” around not increasing a Transport Levy, a fund which councils across the regions pay into for schemes and initiatives.
But he said adding to people’s council tax bills was not being considered at this stage, as per his pledge prior to his election in May last year.
Councillor Burrow said: “There is no mayoral precept this year. I just wanted your view on is that really a sustainable position or do you see that having to change as we go into the future?”
Mr Parker said: “I was very clear in my manifesto that I had no intention of introducing a mayoral precept.
“It is pretty clear, over the medium term, the Combined Authority’s expenditure is going to be greater than it’s forecast income running from 2026/27 to 2029/30.
“That’s largely because, in my view, some poor decisions made historically, particularly around the Transport Levy.
“Over that period of time, the last 10 years, Manchester’s Transport Levy has increased by almost double ours and that’s left us with some issues to address.
“I’ve worked really closely with the new Government during the budget to ensure we’ve got some additional funds that will stabilise our bus network going forward and that’s a priority for me which is fabric to ensuring in the short term we have a budget and financial plan that is viable.
“We’ve got some longer term decisions to make on sustainability of our transport system.
“I’m working with officers here, we’ve increased the levy this year with the agreement of leaders and that will be approved very soon.
“We’re working with the Government, and I met with the new secretary of state for transport two weeks ago to discuss the issues we face around transport funding.
“I’m hoping we resolve the issues we have around a funding gap, particularly around transport, by working with our council leaders and the Government.
“At this stage, I’ve got no intention of levelling a precept on the constituents of the West Midlands. I believe people pay enough taxes in this region.”
