Big tax increase for county residents:
MAXIMUM RISE ALLOWED TO HELP PAY FOR SOCIAL CARE
COUNCIL tax is set to increase by five per cent for people living in Leicestershire – as opposed to those within the city boundaries – after County Hall finance bosses finalised budget plans.
If approved later this month, ratepayers in the county will see a standard two per cent increase – the maximum the Tory-run authority can put bills up by – as well as a three per cent adult social care precept increase.
The rise will mean the average household paying £5.59 a month more than it does now.
Leicestershire County Council leader, Councillor Nick Rushton, said: “We’ve had to go for the maximum because of the particular pressures we are under, and this is always exacerbated by the fact that we are the lowest-funded council in the country.
“We are left with no alternative – I do not want to be going to cabinet, council or the media to have to justify cuts in services, especially in these Covid times, let alone normal times.”
He added: “On most people’s bills that three per cent increase is a different line.
“What people must not be confused by is that that number does not cover the cost of adult social care – between 75 and 80 per cent of our main budget is taken up by adult social care and children’s services.
“So even though it’s a separate line on the bill, don’t think that covers it, this is just a bit of flexibility that the government has given us to deal with the pressures on social care.
“The total increase only equates to £1.25 per week, which in my experience is only half the price of a coffee at Costa.”
District, borough and parish councils may also announce precept increases.
Leicestershire Police’s line on the bill will also be subject to a £15 per year rise, councillors confirmed last week.
The three per cent adult social care increase will generate more than £9 million, which will help the council “weather the Covid crisis,” according to lead member for finance, Councillor Byron Rhodes.
He explained that the outlook is cautiously brighter than it was before Christmas, when the council predicted a £92 million funding gap.
Confirmation of grants and government support has allowed the authority to revisit its original proposals.
Coun Rhodes said: “The figures have now moved around a bit and the £92 million funding gap has come down to £79 million, which is good, but we are still left with a significant funding gap of around £23 million and at the moment we can’t see how we are going to close that without doing something about it.
“We should take the full three per cent increase in adult social care as a one-off, except it does get built into the base rate for future years, that will give us more than £9 million extra next year. That will go into a Covid crisis pot.
“We really don’t know what the ongoing costs associated with Covid will be, there’s a great deal of uncertainty. There will be around £25 million in that pot with government grants as well and that should enable us to weather the Covid crisis.
“Because of the recession, there will be significant numbers of people who won’t be able to pay their council tax, or won’t pay business rates on time, which will leave us with a shortfall.
“The government will reimburse us for some of it, but there will be a delay and we have to keep this show on the road.
“Taking a holistic view, we think this is the best way forward.”
Coun Rhodes also said the county gets a raw deal, receiving less central government cash per head than other authorities of a similar size.
He said: “We’re always hit harder by these things than anyone else because we are the lowest-funded county council in the country.
“That disagreement continues, and I’ll continue to assert our position on that front, but we are where we are and what we have to keep this council running and what we cannot contemplate is any cutbacks in our caring services.”
Coun Rhodes said he has raised the issue with Secretary of State Robert Jenrick and even had the opportunity to discuss it with the Prime Minister.
Both made assurances that the situation will be reviewed, but Mr Jenrick told Coun Rhodes the government currently doesn’t have the “bandwidth” to look at the issue.
Coun Rhodes said: “I’m reasonably optimistic that with this extra revenue from the council tax increase we will have sufficient funds to keep the council going and we’ll be able to set a break-even budget next year and the following year.
“We’ll still have significant problems to address in year three and four of the plan, but this gives us a bit of time to get that resolved.”
The final budget proposals will be agreed by the county council at its meeting on February 17.
Liberal Democrat finance spokesman, Councillor Michael Mullaney said: “Sadly, this big council tax increase is not a surprise.
“This is because Leicestershire is the worst-funded county by the Conservative government in the country.
“This means that residents are being hit by big council tax bills, whilst in future there’s still a risk that we will see many services cut back too.”
The total increase only equates to £1.25 per week, which in my experience is only half the price of a coffee at Costa.
Nick Rushton