Lancashire Council Tax rises by 4%
It'll mean the average household pays over £40 extra
LANCASHIRE County Council, which provides key services to East Lancashire districts, is set to increase its council tax by 3.99 per cent from April 1.
This would add £40.28 to the annual bill of a Band D semi-detached family home in 12 boroughs including Hyndburn, Burnley, Ribble Valley, Pendle and Rossendale.
The equivalent rise for the Band A terraced homes in the five districts for 2023/24 would be £60.42.
The county council’s cabinet on Thursday recommended the increase made up of a 1.99 per cent increase for general services in council tax plus an extra two per cent rise to pay for adult social care.
This is one per cent below the maximum increase of 4.99 per cent permitted by the government without holding a referendum on the issue.
The recommendation follows the confirmation of an rise in the ‘precept’ charged in council tax bills for policing of £10 for a Band A home and £15 for a band D one.
This element also covers Blackburn with Darwen borough where the all-purpose council provides children’s and adult social care as well as other key services including highways the county delivers to most of the rest of Lancashire.
It was also revealed on Thursday that Burnley Council was proposing to add the maximum permitted 2.99 per cent to its element of household council tax bills – £9.52 annually for a Band D property increasing the yearly bill to £328.01.
Hyndburn is set to freeze its portion of the council tax while Ribble Valley, Pendle and Rossendale and the fire authority have yet to decide on their proposed levy for 2023/24.
Blackburn with Darwen is expected to increase its council tax by the maximum 4.99 per cent adding £56 a year to the bill for a Band A house and £84 a year to the cost for a Band D home from April 1.
Lancashire County Council’s deputy leader Cllr Alan Vincent said: “Raising council tax is never a decision that we take lightly, but under current circumstances we believe it is essential to protecting services.
“We recognise the challenging environment for Lancashire people and businesses, and for that reason we will be recommending that the increase be the same as last year – 3.99 per cent.
“The final decision will be taken at our full council meeting on February 9.”
Burnley Council’s finance boss Cllr Sue Graham said: “The council continues to take a strong and sensible approach to balancing our budget while, at the same time, ensuring that we continue to provide high-quality services to residents.
“We have produced a budget based on our priority services but which also supports our core strategic vision to create a cleaner, greener, safer and prosperous borough with a strong local economy.
“We’ve all had to pull in the purse-strings and we understand that any increase in council tax has an impact on the budgets of households.
“We’ve had to increase our share of the overall council tax bill in order to maintain essential services for our residents. For the majority the increase amounts to 14p a week or less.”
Her report will go to the Burnley’s executive meeting on February 13 which will make recommendations for final approval of the 2023/24 budget by Full Council on February 22.