Council investments

We’re investing in areas across Barnsley, supporting our residents, communities and businesses.

These investments are part of our agreed budget for 2025 to 2026, alongside additional one-off funds from an improved local government financial settlement for the year, which enables us to invest in initiatives that support our Council Plan priorities.

Investment	Initiative	Details
£3.5 million investment in our communities	Love Where You Live	Barnsley Council’s Love Where You Live is investing in local projects, social action, and bringing our communities closer together. Love Where You Live is about all of us working together, listening to one another, and making a real difference. It’s about creating a Barnsley that’s vibrant, welcoming, and full of opportunity – a Barnsley that we’re proud to call home. Find out what’s on in your local area.
£5 million to provide free bus travel for all under 18s in Barnsley	Great Childhoods Ambition	Barnsley Council’s investing in a free bus travel for under 18s pilot, with an additional funding from South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority. This will help reduce financial pressures for families and to enable children and young people in Barnsley to access all the opportunities in our borough and across South Yorkshire. Learn more about our Great Childhoods Ambition and the initiatives for children and young people.
£1.5 million to enhance educational support	Great Childhoods Ambition	Barnsley Council is investing £1.5 million to enhance educational support. This includes bolstered GCSE Maths and English support to help students catch up and excel, as well as the expansion of the 'Every Child a Coder' programme, which equips young people with essential digital skills for careers in AI and automation.
£17 million to continue improving our roads	Highways	Barnsley Council’s investing just under £11.3 million for our annual Highways Capital Maintenance programme, this includes an additional £2 million investment for principal roads and side streets as part of our Love Where You Live Programme, alongside £2.07 million from the UK Government’s funding for potholes and highway maintenance. Our sustained investment is improving Barnsley’s roads, investing in our communities and unlocking economic growth opportunities across the borough. Find out more about our investments in our roads and footways.
£2.8 million of financial support for school children and families	School uniform reimbursement scheme and Year 11 support packs	Barnsley Council’s providing one-off financial support to families for school uniforms for the 2025/26 academic year, offering £50 for primary and £100 for secondary school children. Families who live in Barnsley local authority area can claim this support regardless of whether their child attends school in Barnsley. Find out more about the school uniform support scheme. We're also making sure that all Year 11 pupils have equal access to the resources they need by distributing support packs directly to Barnsley schools. The packs will include: items to help with revision, coursework and projects equipment suitable for Year 11 pupils and where applicable exams health and wellbeing information.