Households will pay at least 8% council tax

ALL households in Northumberland will have to pay a minimum of 8% of their council tax bill, following approval for changes to save £1 million a year.

The Conservative administration maintains that this leaves those affected far better off than if the previous Labour council had regained power last year, given that proposals had been drawn up to cut the support by over five times as much – 50%, it has been claimed.

Labour councillors denied this when the issue sparked a row at the full council meeting last month and there has been some fiery criticism of the proposals, however, the results of a six-week consultation show that of the 512 respondents, 51% agreed with it.

At its meeting on Wednesday, Northumberland County Council’s cabinet agreed a reduction in the level of council-tax support for working-age claimants to 92%. The current scheme provides up to 100%, meaning that some households pay no council tax.

Coun Richard Wearmouth, cabinet member for economic development, said: “I think it is a quite significant achievement to maintain this at 92%. That hasn’t been achieved by nine other Labour local authorities in the North East.”

Coun Nick Oliver, cabinet member for corporate services, added: “We have taken the approach in this budget process, where possible, to protect frontline services and protect support for residents. But we have to address recurrent things in a recurrent way.”

Referring to the debate at Monday’s meeting of the corporate services committee, where Coun Malcolm Robinson described the cut as a ‘blunt instrument’ and suggested delaying it, Coun Oliver said: “Deferral was a well-made point, but the reality is we have to find the savings now.”

At that meeting, Coun Oliver explained: “It’s not something we do lightly, but we are looking to make £36m of savings over the next three years and looking at all areas of council spending.”

He also highlighted that the consultation showed that the alternatives – increasing council tax across the board, finding savings elsewhere or using savings – were far less popular. An 8% reduction will reduce the cost of the scheme by £1.2m and, based on a collection level of 83% over time, would generate additional council tax receipts of £1m.