Have your say on Buckinghamshire Council’s priorities and budget
Buckinghamshire Council is inviting residents, businesses and community groups to take part in its consultation on the council’s priorities and budget.
The ‘Your Bucks, Your Say’ consultation is now open and runs until Thursday 9 October 2025. It’s your chance to help inform the council’s future plans and say which services you think should be prioritised in next year’s budget.
The council is currently developing its Corporate Plan, which sets out what it wants to achieve over the next four years. At its heart, the plan is about making a positive difference for the people, communities and businesses of Buckinghamshire.
Four key priorities are being proposed:
- Opportunity and aspiration for all
- Shaping great places
- Thriving communities
- Supporting the most vulnerable
Buckinghamshire Council provides over 700 services, with 71% of the budget spent on four key areas it is legally required to deliver:
- Adult social care
- Children’s services
- Home-to-school transport
- Temporary accommodation
Despite financial pressures faced by councils across the country, Buckinghamshire Council remains in a stable position. It continues to make savings and invest in the county, including a £120 million investment in the road network over the next four years.
You can take part in the consultation by completing the online survey or requesting a printed version. All feedback will be used to help shape the council’s final Corporate Plan and budget proposals, which will be published early next year.
The consultation is open until 11:59pm on Thursday 9 October 2025.
Welcome back to school Bucks!
As pupils across Buckinghamshire get ready to return to school this week, Buckinghamshire Council is encouraging parents and carers to explore the support available to help children attend school regularly. Good attendance plays a vital role in children's learning, wellbeing, and future opportunities – and help is at hand for families who may be facing challenges.
Evidence shows that good attendance rates are key to a child or young person’s success at school. Since the Covid pandemic, attendance at school has decreased significantly in Buckinghamshire, in line with figures across the rest of the country. While all children miss some days of school for reasons such as illness, keeping your child home from school when they are well enough to attend or taking them out of school during term time to go on holiday can be detrimental to their future achievement and long-term success.
The council’s Present for their Future campaign signposts parents and carers to a variety of support and advice to help children with school attendance. From free online courses to websites and access to specialist teams, the campaign provides information for parents and carers as well as young people themselves on issues relating to bullying, mental health, anxiety and much more.
While the campaign focuses on the benefits of attending school as much as possible, consideration is given to those with special educational needs and disabilities who may face additional challenges.
For more information visit here.
To find more information on support for those with special educational needs and disabilities visit: Bucks SEND Local Offer | Family Information Service
Tackling and preventing domestic abuse is everyone’s business
Free training is available
Every 30 seconds in the UK, the police receive a domestic abuse related call. Domestic abuse makes up 18% of all recorded crime in England and Wales and in the UK a woman is killed by a man every 3 days. Two million women are estimated to be victims of violence perpetrated by men each year. While men and boys also suffer many of these forms of abuse, they disproportionately affect women.
Cases of Domestic Abuse (DA) and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) continue to be seen in Buckinghamshire, and everyone has a responsibility to play a part in recognising and calling out the signs of domestic abuse to protect those at risk and provide a safe environment for everyone living, working, and visiting Buckinghamshire.
Going from strength to strength, Buckinghamshire Council’s fully funded multi-agency ‘Tackling and Preventing Domestic Abuse’ training catalogue has published its fourth offering for Buckinghamshire for 2025/26.
This year’s offer includes eight new topics derived from local Buckinghamshire insight on DA and VAWG cases, including: being trauma informed, stalking and cyber stalking, post separation abuse, responding to disclosures, Buckinghamshire referral pathways, protective orders, mental health and suicide prevention, and understanding risk and managing safety.
The training catalogue is for anyone wishing to upskill their knowledge around domestic abuse and is not exclusively for professionals who work with vulnerable or at-risk audiences. The aim is to increase people’s confidence in identifying the signs of abuse and give appropriate support and signposting to victims. Whatever your role, whether you manage a team, teach, own a business, run a community organisation or work in the health, adult social care or children’s services sectors, these courses could help you challenge and change behaviours and help victims get the support they need, sooner.
The offer continues to be entirely free of charge to encourage as many individuals as possible to improve or refresh their knowledge. The training is a mixture of ‘power hours’, half and full day sessions. Power hour virtual sessions are delivered to encourage higher levels of attendance. Most of the courses in the catalogue are online to fit in with evolving working patterns.
To view the training catalogue and details of how to register for the courses, please visit the webpage
