Budget, spending and transparency
Financial Disclosures
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Annual Accounts
View our annual accounts
Pay Policy Statement
WMCA’s principles and approach to pay and the use of public funds.
Car parking
Explore facilities and operational data across all 42 regional Park and Ride sites for 2025/26.
Trade Union facility time
Details of WMCA resources spent on union duties.
The WMCA budget is made up of two main parts:
- the revenue budget, which funds day-to-day services and activities. The revenue budget pays for staffing, transport operations, concessions, programme delivery, commissioned services, professional support and other ongoing costs
- the capital programme, which funds investment in assets and infrastructure.
Revenue Budget Expenditure
The £588m revenue budget is organised into five main areas. Each supports a different aspect of the WMCA's responsibilities.
| Budget area | 2026/27 Allocation £m | What it funds | Nature of expenditure |
| Mayoral Office | 0.9 | The Mayor's office and associated support | Primarily staffing and the costs of supporting the Mayor's statutory and strategic responsibilities. |
| Transport | 272.4 | Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), including transport networks, concessions, bus services, rail and metro elated activity, and transport policy. |
A combination of recurring operating costs, public transport support, concessionary travel costs, contracts and transport related staffing. The Transport Budget is partially funded by a levy from the seven metropolitan councils. For 2026/27, the West Midlands Combined Authority set a levy of £126.6m, a 3% increase from the previous year. The levy is allocated to each local authority based upon published population figures. Details of the Transport Budget and Levy can be found via this link. |
| Programme Delivery | 278.2 | Programmes covering areas such as skills and employment, housing and regeneration, economic growth, environment and energy, public sector innovation | A mixture of grants to partners, commissioned activity, project delivery, staffing and external support. Much of this spending is linked to specific funding allocations and programme outcomes. |
| Investment Programme | 36.5 | Cost of financing and supporting the programme. | The Investment Programme represents the WMCA’s long-term plan for investing money in projects that improve the West Midlands economy, create jobs, support housing growth, improve transport, and regenerate communities. It brings together funding from government, borrowing, and other sources to deliver projects that provide economic and social benefits across the region. |
| Corporate Services | - | The organisation wide functions needed to operate and govern the WMCA, including finance, legal, facilities, governance, HR, procurement, technology and insights and communications. | Primarily staffing and core operating costs, alongside professional services, systems and other corporate support costs. Costs of corporate services are fully recharged to frontline services, that is Transport and Programme Delivery, so the overall budget for this area is net nil. |
Revenue budget funding
There is a combination of funding sources for the revenue budget. This is summarised in the table below:
| Funding source | 2026/27 (£m) |
| Revenue grants (including Integrated Settlement) | 346.5 |
| Transport Levy | 126.6 |
| Investment Programme Gainshare | 36.5 |
| Investment Income | 37.4 |
| Share of Business Rates Income | 16.5 |
| Constituent and Non-Constituent Member Fees | 5.0 |
| Use of Reserves | 19.4 |
| Total Income | 588.0 |
Capital Investment
The 2026/27 WMCA capital programme reflects both the scale of ongoing commitments and the 3- year strategic outcomes in furtherance of delivery of the Growth Plan. The programme will continue to focus on delivering major transport infrastructure, most notably Metro expansion, bus priority corridors, and sustainable travel schemes, to support regional connectivity and modal shift. Significant investment will also be directed toward social and affordable housing delivery, regeneration activity, and the continued development of key employment and innovation sites. There is also focus on progressing projects that will lead address energy and environment considerations, reducing the energy costs for residents and the public sector.
A £554m budget was approved by Board in July 2026, and broken down as follows
| Expenditure by Pillar | 2026/27 (£m) |
| Transport and Local Infrastructure | 438.6 |
| Housing and Strategic Planning | 33.1 |
| Economic Development and Regeneration | 29.8 |
| Energy and Environment | 47.3 |
| Adult Skills | 4.8 |
| Total Capital Budget | 553.6 |
Capital Programme Funding
The funding for these programmes comes from a number of sources. Most of the programme is grant funded, with little reliance on borrowing to fund the programme
In summary the funding cocktail is:
| Funding Source | 2026/27 (£m) |
| Central Government Grants | 490.5 |
| Local Funding | 2.3 |
| Third Party Contributions | 0.7 |
| WMCA Earmarked Reserves | 5.5 |
| WMCA Investment Programme Debt | 36.2 |
| Farebox and Levy Debt | 18.6 |
| Total Capital Funding | 553.6 |
Financial Monitoring is undertaken throughout the year and reported through to the WMCA Board. Annual Accounts and monthly financial disclosures can be found in this section.