Cuts to children and family centres, rural buses, housing support and school crossing patrols are being proposed as Warwickshire County Council grapples with balancing its books.

Three household waste centres could close and there will be impacts on the roads with winter gritting to be reduced "to statutory minimum", street lighting set to be switched off for longer and grass verges next to roads potentially cut less frequently. 

Savings plans in the county's medium term financial strategy (MTFS) – the document that sets out budgetary plans for the next five financial years – make for grim reading as the number crunchers decide how to plug a £69.4 million black hole. 

The MTFS gets refreshed with another year added whenever the council sets its budget, a process that is completed in February and kicks in from the start of the financial year from April 1. 

Not only are the officers – the employed experts – and councillors required to set a balanced budget but also a realistic framework based on current information to ensure that balanced budgets can be set in future years. 

The estimates include many moving parts and savings are generated not only through cuts but by extra income, whether that is new and unexpected grant funding or through the council finding ways of generating more money for itself.

However, rising costs and increased demand in areas of social care, special educational needs and home to school transport threaten to leave the cupboard bare for what many will see as core council services. 

The county aims to save £900,000 by "consolidating activity into a reduced number of (children and families) centres across the county" in 2027-28, while the children and families department plans to cut more than £2 million from staffing costs over the next four years "flowing from the successful implementation of the sustainability plan".

A review of the Early Years Service's "staffing structure and allocation of school improvement support provision" is earmarked to save £191,000 over the next three years and the closure of three household waste recycling centres in 2027-28 is expected to trim bills by £200,000.

The council has targeted saving more £1 million in the next financial year on home to school transport "as a result of service/route redesign and the positive impact of the SEND Change and Inclusion Programme on both demand and the length of journeys" but next year – 2025-26 – is still set to bring a review of school crossing patrols "with a view to reducing the long-term cost". £199,000 of savings are projected.

"More efficient delivery of services" and the construction of salt barns are expected to save £250,000 on winter road gritting in 2026-27 but limiting provision to only A and B roads is proposed from 2028-29, saving another £150,000. 

It is hoped £100,000 will come off the bill for street lighting by "extending part-night lighting hours" in 2027-28, which is also when reduced bus services are expected through "alternative delivery models and a review of subsidies for the rural bus service network", saving £750,000.

Another £1 million cut comes from the "further decommissioning of the housing related support service offer", adding to the £1 million planned for 2025-26, while £646,000 is set to be trimmed from supporting contracts that relate to the Domestic Abuse and Violence Service – specifically its spend on consultancy, training, communications, counselling and therapy and outreach services – and the Drug and Alcohol Service, including detox in-patient services, from 2026-27.

Nearly £500,000 is set to come from "a range of service changes" in libraries and museums, including reducing the Book Fund and E-Resource Fund, closing smaller libraries at 5pm and reviewing the opening hours of museums.

There is set to be "right-sizing" in relation to expenses for councillors in the forthcoming financial year "due to reduced travel/mileage and other expenses", saving £140,000. 

Other savings are reliant on bringing down costs in troublesome areas of care and education, and on increases to some income streams. 

At a time when districts and boroughs are reducing income expectations for car parking, the county expects increases to pay and display and parking permit charges to generate £1.775 million in the three years from 2026-27, while the authority hopes to add £625,000 to its income from business centres and a further £100,000 from taking a "commercial approach" to its country parks. 

The latest position is to be discussed by the cabinet – the panel of Conservative councillors in charge of major service areas – on Tuesday (January 23).