4.95% council tax rise for city set for approval
A COUNCIL tax rise of almost 5% for people in Newcastle and £40m of cuts are set to be signed off next week.
Newcastle City Council says the massive hit to the civic centre’s coffers caused by the pandemic means it will need to make £20m of savings in each of the next two years.
That includes 15 job losses and a council tax rise due to be imposed in April of 4.95%, including a 3% precept to pay for adult social care, which equates to an annual increase of between £56 and £169 depending on your home’s council tax band.
The budget plans, subject to a final debate at a full council meeting on March 4 before being formally approved, also involve major funding cuts to care services, increased charges for parking and bin collections and a review of Newcastle’s library services.
Council chief executive Pat Ritchie told a cabinet meeting on Monday night Covid continues to have a “profound” impact on the local authority’s finances, with less than half of the current estimated £60m pressure covered by the Government.
Leader Nick Forbes added there had been a “concerted effort by the Government” to shift the burden of local government funding away from grant money to council tax and business rates, which have “come under severe strain through the Covid crisis.”
He added: “I think the cracks in both council tax and business rates have widened and there is a very serious question about the long-term sustainability of the local government model .
“This budget is created in that understanding and context.
“Another part of that context is the adult social care precept, which is in effect the Government shifting the burden of responsibility for adult social care increasingly towards council tax payers rather than funding it adequately through central grant provisions.”
Coun Forbes added he was “very pleased” 30,000 households would have their council tax bills reduced or cancelled entirely using the city’s £5.5m share of a £670m Government hardship fund.
Ahead of the budget debate next week, Newcastle Lib Dem opposition leader Nick Cott said this was the “most important” council budget the city has faced in many years.
The opposition has previously warned the most vulnerable in the city would be hardest hit by the proposed council tax rise and other cuts.
Care services will bear the brunt of the savings - with adult social care budgets being slashed by £13.2m and children’s services by £6.4m.
The changes will include closing two children’s homes and hitting some people with new fees of up to £5 per week to cover the cost of their care.
The council will also increase charges for parking in its car parks, garden waste collections, pest control and the online streaming of funerals.
£400,000 is also being cut from the subsidy given to schools for free school meals, though the council insists the move will “not impact on children or eligibility for free school meals.”
The cabinet also agreed to approve a bid to secure £27m of Government funding for environmentally-friendly building upgrades to schools, libraries, leisure centres and the Theatre Royal.
Public buildings could be fitted with low-carbon heating systems, better windows and insulation, solar panels and more if Newcastle is successful in its bid to the £1bn Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.