City budget approval signals council tax rise of 4pc

THE RULING Labour group on Bradford Council saw its budget for the coming year approved which will mean a council tax rise of 3.99 per cent.

The proposals were passed at an often fiery meeting, during which the various political parties that make up the authority proposed their own alternative budgets.

Extra government funding in sectors, such as social care, meant that this budget did not involve as many cuts as previous years, and there are no compulsory redundancies in the approved budget.

The council tax rise will be made up of a 1.99 per cent council tax rise, and a two per cent “social care precept.” It will add £54.79 to the annual bill of a Band D property household.

The budget includes an extra £21m for Children’s Services, £25m spent on projects to tackle the “climate emergency” – including moorland flood work and a push to electrify the council’s fleet of vehicles, an extra £700,000 to tackle obesity and £555,000 for mental health.

Ilkley town centre will get new CCTV cameras, a number of regeneration projects in Bradford city centre will get funding, and libraries will get an annual injection of £700,000 public health money to transform the service.

Last-minute additions to the budget made earlier this week include £150,000 to boost the pay of low-paid Council staff and an extra £500,000 for parks and green spaces.

Each party proposed their own alternative budgets, with the Conservative plans calling for a council tax rise of 2.49 per cent compared to Labour’s 3.99 per cent rise, and for parking charges in areas outside of Bradford city centre to be reduced or scrapped.

Presenting the budget, leader Coun Susan Hinchcliffe urged for greater certainty in future funding from the government.