Council tax bills set to rocket with 3.4% rise

VALLEY residents are facing a large increase in council tax bills.

Rossendale council (RBC), Lancashire County Council (LCC), and the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) have set out hikes in their council tax precepts of 1.99pc, 3.99pc and approximately 5pc respectively.

If approved, the rises would add at least £44 a year to annual bills, and an extra £65pa for ‘average’ Band D homes - but could yet be larger.

RBC’s budget, also including some double digit rises in Building Control fees for new housing schemes, is due to go before cabinet on February 12, and then full council. A spokesman said: “Papers published for the February 3 meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny give a frank assessment of the budget pressure the council is still facing.

“Over the last few years, the council has been hit by significant cuts to its central government grants. It has meant the council has had to generate additional income locally, mainly through increased business rates and council tax revenue.”

Coun Andrew Walmsley, cabinet member for resources, said: “Despite our budget reducing by millions, we have still managed to achieve a lot and there are lots of things to be excited about.

“We have managed to bring in significant pots of money to fund work to improve our town centres.

“And we are still delivering high quality services.

“The cost to households for all the services Rossendale provides is, on average, about £3 a week.”

But Conservative group leader Coun Peter Steen responded: “We will no doubt hear the old excuse about the nasty Tory government, but the ruling administration need to look at their own financial incompetence, the £6m Empty Homes Scheme, for which costs are still coming to light, as a classic example. Yet again the hard pressed council tax payers are being hit in the pocket through no fault of their own.”

The bulk of the overall projected increase is accounted for by the LCC rise, due to be discussed by county hall’s Cabinet on Thursday, February 6.

It includes a one-off 2pc rise to cover adult social care. Currently LCC receives £1,250.89 of the £1,891.64 paid by Band D homes (not Whitworth).

PCC Clive Grunshaw said he was “frustrated” by the police increase

- but claimed government policy meant it was “the only tool in the box” to help bridge a funding gap for the constabulary.

The rise - piling almost £4.5m on to council tax bills across Lancashire to fund policing - accounts for around £7pa more for most Band A households.

Mr Grunshaw also warned it would be necessary to manage the public’s expectations about the impact of 153 new officers to be recruited in the county over the next 12 months - because Lancashire will still be left with 600 fewer frontline police than it had back in 2010. The Government has pledged to fully fund the cost of the extra officers, the first tranche of its pledge to put 20,000 new police on the streets within the next three years.

The Home Office says that it is part of the most generous funding settlement in a decade, which will see Lancashire with £22.6m more to spend from April than it had during 2019/20.

The fire authority has yet to announce its budget plans, or whether its own modest precept will rise.