First phase of the annual Budget consultation to get underway shortly

Residents will soon have the opportunity to take part in Phase One of the Council’s annual consultation for next year’s Budget (2027/28). This phase of the process during autumn will focus on investment priorities – and residents will be able to take part online, via post, and at face-to-face local events.

Each year, the Council takes a two-phase approach to consulting residents on the following year’s Budget. The views captured will help senior officers and Cabinet make informed decisions in setting the 2027/28 Budget by March 2027. Phase One will focus on how the Council focuses its investment, along with other key factors such as council tax levels and efficiency savings. Phase Two will then take place in the New Year, focusing on a draft Budget strategy which will be brought forward following the Welsh Government settlement.

The Council can now confirm that the Phase One consultation for the 2027/28 Budget will get underway in the week commencing Monday, November 2. It will last for six weeks, up until mid-December 2026.

The RCT Let’s Talk engagement website will be the main online portal for the consultation. The site will give key information about the budget’s context and background, plus a survey to provide feedback. The survey will be available to complete online, as a document for people to print, in Easy Read (document for printing), or by post (by request). Our interactive Budget simulator – asking residents to choose services most important to them on a sliding scale – has been updated and developed further for this year, based on public feedback.

Throughout the consultation, the Council’s social media channels will promote the process and encourage public engagement – while emails will be sent to key stakeholders including the Citizens’ Panel, local councillors and staff.

Offline, a telephone consultation option will be available through the Council’s contact centre (01443 425014), with individual call-backs offered. Paper surveys and information can be arranged to be sent over the phone, while a consultation Freepost address is available for all postal submissions. Please use Freepost (RUGK-EZZL-ELBH), Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, Third Floor Office, 2 Llys Cadwyn, Pontypridd, CF37 4TH.

A number of face-to-face engagement events will also be held within local communities. These will be used to outline the Budget approach, answer questions, and collect people’s views. The events will allow local residents to speak directly with officers about Council services. The dates and locations will be shared on the Let’s Talk page, and via social media, once finalised.

We will also engage separately with community and Council groups, like the Older Persons Advisory Group, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Joint Consultative Committee, the School Budget Forum and the Community Liaison Committee. Officers will also be visiting some of the local schools and youth groups within Rhondda Cynon Taf to engage with our young people.

Councillor Maureen Webber BEM, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Council Business, said: “The Council will again follow a tried-and-tested approach to its Budget consultation – as we aim to reach as many people as possible and best inform the final decision-making by senior officers and Cabinet. This autumn, we’ll ask residents about factors like investment priorities, before focus turns to a draft strategy in the New Year, compiled after the provisional Welsh Government settlement. The overall consultation therefore seeks residents’ views at two key stages.

“We’ve received thousands of responses to our Budget consultations in recent years, proving that people do care and want to share their views on important decisions. While we’re using a familiar formula, officers are always looking at how we can make changes to reach more residents, online and offline. The Let’s Talk Your Views involvement strategy is in its second year, as it looks at how we can take our conversations further afield in our communities – for example, we’ll be holding more face-to-face events this year than ever before.

“We know that local government continues to go through a challenging period in terms of finances, and that every Council in Wales is again likely to face a Budget gap in setting their 2027/28 Budget next March. As explained in the Medium Term Financial Plan shared with Cabinet in September 2026, the extent of the budget gap will become clearer following the UK Government Budget and then the Welsh Government settlement, due in November.

“I encourage interested residents to take part in Phase One of the consultation when it opens next week, in the week commencing November 2. The process will be advertised on the Let’s Talk website and via the Council’s social media accounts. The online functions will include a survey, along with the return of our Interactive Budget simulator – which is further developed and improved for this year. We’ll also shortly announce details of our face-to-face events, once they are finalised. Thanks in advance to everyone for taking part.”