Leicestershire County Council agree to raise Council Tax by nearly 5%

This equates to £1.39 a week for a band D home.

Leicestershire County Council has agreed on their budget which means that Council Tax is going up.

From April, there will be a 4.99 per cent Council Tax rise, this equates to £1.39 a week for a band D home and will generate an extra £17.7 million.

Nick Rushton, Council leader, said: "Protecting the vulnerable and hefty investment in support people depend on – that’s what our budget delivers.

"Unforeseen global issues such as war in Ukraine and rising energy costs make balancing our books challenging. We’ve spent a lot of time on it and asking people to pay more has been a tough decision. Not doing so would drastically reduce the money we can spend on social care, fixing roads and other frontline services."

 A 4.99 % Council Tax rise in the county council’s share includes a two per cent adult social care levy – and means a Band D home would pay £1,525.

 The budget also includes:
•            £57m more to support vulnerable people - to pay for more home and residential care, and support people with physical disabilities, learning disabilities and mental health needs. The number of home care users has increased by 600 since January 2020.
 
•            £59m of efficiency savings – reducing back office costs by maximising digital technology, simplifying processes and providing the right level of support to residents 
 
•            Service cuts totalling £3m - including reviewing waste sites, streetlighting, Green Plaques and Shire Grants 
 
•            A £509m four-year capital pot - for the cost of building roads, schools and other one-off projects
 
•            An extra £1m to reduce the impact of service cuts and boost road maintenance – including £100,000 to continue rolling out community speed cameras. 

The council says they fared better than expected in the Government’s Autumn Statement however the financial outlook remains extremely tough as the authority’s budget gap is set to rise to nearly £90m by 2026.
 
 Councillor Lee Breckon, cabinet member for resources, said: “Local government is facing an ever-increasing funding squeeze making balancing our £512m yearly budget a complex balancing act. 
 
“But even with the financial pressuring growing, we pride ourselves on doing the best we can with the money we have. And that’s why it was right to freeze our own member allowances this year. 
 
“Being the lowest funded county compounds the issue and I’m looking forward to discussing this with the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, next month.
 
The council’s yearly budget totals £512m.