New figures released by Dudley Council show the size of the authority and how much it costs to run.

The council published its accounts for the last financial year (2024/25) which dig deep into how taxpayers cash is spent.

There are 296 local councils in England and according to Office of National Statistics estimates, Dudley has a population of around 325,000 making it the 38th largest.

The council has plenty of things to pay for including 37 primary schools, seven special schools, four secondary schools, one nursery school and one pupil referral unit.

On the roads, Dudley is responsible for 750 miles of highway, 33,700 street lights, 4,550 illuminated traffic signals and 63 car parks.

Housing is a big part of Dudley’s responsibilities, the borough owns around 20,700 council houses and flats plus 1,200 leasehold flats.

The council spent a total of just under £887m in the last financial year which is divided into three main areas, ring-fenced budgets for schools and housing plus the general fund for day-to-day spending.

Spending from the general fund was £312.9m which was paid for from council tax, business rates and grants which raised £328.9m, meaning councillors had spare cash to put into reserves.

Longer term projects like road and housing repairs plus big construction projects like the new Pens Meadow School building were covered by £96m in capital spending.

The largest amount was £37m which went on public sector housing, next in line was regeneration, including developments like Dudley Interchange and the purchase of Cable Plaza in Brierley Hill, costing £21.3m.

During the financial year 51 roads were resurfaced costing around £7.4m, £2m was spent on LED street lighting and £790,000 on strengthening bridges including Mears Coppice and Wynall Lane.

Pay and other costs for the council’s 5,621 staff are a big expense, costing the authority £321.8m in the year ending March 31, although that was £3.3m less than the year before.

Councillors allowances including a basic £12,143 plus extra for members taking on special responsibilities or committee memberships, plus allowances for the mayor deputy mayor, amounted to a total £1.34m.