Councillors have approved their budget for 2026/27 – including a third multi-million pound bailout in three years.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council will receive £10.5 million in exceptional financial support in the coming year, plugging a major hole in the authority's finances.

This is the third year in a row that the Labour-run city council has had to use EFS to balance its budget, after requesting £42.2 million in 2024 and £16.8 million last year.

The budget for 2026/27 also includes a 4.99 per cent council tax increase – the maximum allowed without a referendum – and £9.8 million of 'non-consult' savings and budget management actions.

Elected members debated the budget at a meeting on Thursday, with opposition councillors accusing the Labour administration of saddling Stoke-on-Trent taxpayers with even more debt – EFS is effectively a loan that has to be paid back by selling off land.

But council leaders insisted that the authority's financial problems are the result of 'underfunding' by previous Conservative governments.

And they also pointed out that this is the first council budget in years that does not include cuts to frontline services, with extra spending in areas such as heritage, fly-tipping and empty homes.

Councillor Sarah Hill, cabinet member for finance, told the meeting while the government's fair funding review had resulted in additional support for the council, it still faced significant challenges.

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She said: "The additional funding in the settlement is not sufficient to fully close the budget gap. For this reason the council requested exceptional financial support of £10.5 million in 2026/27.

"The decision to ask for more EFS was not taken lightly. We don't wish to do this. However, requiring EFS is not a measure of our council's incompetence, it's a measure of underfunding over many years.

"Thirty-five councils this year have asked for EFS, and our request is quite low compared to others – Shropshire asked for £121 million, and Cheshire East next door has had £35 million. All councils are really struggling."

The city council's financial troubles are largely due to the high level of spending on children's social care, with 1,095 youngsters currently in care in Stoke-on-Trent, far more than at similar authorities.

Council leaders say that efforts to reduce demand for children's social care by bolstering support for families is starting to yield results, with the need for EFS 'tapering off' – the council currently estimates that another £7.5 million will be needed in 2027/28.

But opposition councillors criticised the continued reliance on EFS shows that Labour's approach is not working, and that future generations of Stoke-on-Trent taxpayers will be left with the debt.

Opposition Conservative group leader Lorraine Beardmore said: "Today we find ourselves back in Groundhog Day. For a third year in a row this council proposes to rely on exceptional financial support from government to balance its budget, despite the fair funding review.

"We're effectively operating an overdraft facility for this council, one that our children and children's children will be left to repay.

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"Last year's budget book talked about improving children's services and yet we're still paying one of the highest amounts on children in care. This is a signal that early intervention work has been unsuccessful thus far. This budget isn't just about numbers on a spreadsheet, it's about people, families and futures."

Reform UK councillor Luke Shenton said: "The Labour administration has now completed a hat-trick of bailouts, totalling nearly £70 million since Labour took over the running of this council, costing Stoke-on-Trent taxpayers £10,000 a day in interest payments alone.

"We've also had another trilogy nobody asked for, hiking council tax by the maximum 4.99 per cent for the third year in a row. Will there be a fourth bailout next year? This budget is built on higher taxes, higher borrowing, higher debt and wishful thinking."

But Labour councillors hit back at this criticism, saying that the lack of alternative ideas coming from the opposition benches demonstrated that 'there is nothing left to cut'.

Council leader Jane Ashworth said: "The first thing that was noticeable was that none of the opposition councillors came forward with one proposal for change.

"It's customary practice at this authority for the opposition, and anyone else who wants to, to come forward with suggestions. I've never seen a situation where there's not been a single suggestion.

"We need this borrowing because 14 years of Conservative central government austerity meant that the money coming into this city was not enough. It's taking years to put right. Nobody would expect to be able to solve the problem in two budgets.

"This is an investment budget. We're increasing investment in protecting heritage, we're increasing investment in fly-tipping, we're chasing after the owners of empty homes and we're clearing the gullies."

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Unlike in previous years, the draft budget for 2026/27 did not include any individual savings proposals for public consultation – council leaders say this was because none of the proposals affected frontline services.

But a 'non-consult' proposal to replace the cafe at Dimensions leisure centre with vending machines, which would have saved £93,000, was dropped following public opposition. The cafe will now be retained with a reduced subsidy.

Following the debate, councillors voted 28 to 13 in favour of approving the budget.