Council tax is going up in Plymouth
The City Council's Leader said they 'had no choice', but the spending plans would 'prioritise the most vulnerable'
Council tax bills in Plymouth will be going up from April.
The city council’s share will rise by 4.99 per cent – with 3 per cent of the increase going on adult social care.
Labour leader Tudor Evans said the council had no choice but to ask for more from tax payers after years of cutbacks, but the spending plans would prioritise the most vulnerable.
He said the Conservative Government was shifting the burden of paying for services onto local people despite the impact of the pandemic.
The council leader said the spending plans for day-to-day services included £2million extra for children’s services and £3million more to care for the elderly in a budget which would "continue to focus resources on keeping people safe."
The revenue budget for the next financial year of £195.6million plus a £779million five-year capital programme and the rise in council tax were approved by the Labour-controlled city council on Monday.
Cllr Evans said that since 2010, local authorities had lost 60p in every £1 of Government funding, which had cost the city £800million.
He said the five-year capital budget was investing in economic recovery, with spending on industrial estates, the Forder Valley Link Road, and city centre regeneration.
Cllr Evans said:
"We are doing our utmost to support the city through the bad times, and will be looking forward to the good.
"We are acutely aware of the burden that council tax places on many households in Plymouth. However our hands are tied.
"The Government has made it clear that the only way to cover the rising cost of services and plug all the gaps, is to ask local people to dig deep. Like many other councils across the country, we have no choice."
He said the budget was robust, realistic and achievable, and would make sure the council came out of the other side of the pandemic "with no one left behind".
Cllr Evans added: "It will allow us to continue with our ambitious plans for the city, to support those most in need, and to make Plymouth strong again."
The city council’s Conservative opposition leader Nick Kelly claimed people were being asked to pay more for less. He said the budget did not prioritise basic services people expected and did not represent value for money.
Cllr Kelly claimed the council’s "debt mountain" of more than £1billion was close to the limit and was a "potential ticking time-bomb".
He accused the Labour leadership of "scaremongering" over financial problems which had not materialised, and said the Government had supported the city with £100million during the pandemic.
He said Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Prime Minister Boris Johnson had carried out an "unprecedented and Herculean task" to save jobs and keep businesses going while protecting the NHS and launching the successful vaccination programme.
The city council’s Cabinet member for finance Mark Lowry said increasing council tax by 1.99 per cent was not something the leadership wanted to do, but it would still be the lowest tax in Devon and Cornwall.
The Labour councillor said the council had seen central government funding fall by between £7million and £10million each year, and rising costs meant it had to find between £14million and £20million annually from savings or extra income to balance the budget.
He said the council had made additional savings of £30 million over the last three years and the workforce had been almost halved in a decade, down from 4,935 in 2010 to 2,504 now.
Cllr Lowry said the budget was safe, sound and "looks after the most vulnerable residents, invests in tackling climate change and invests in creating jobs."
After a debate lasting four and a half hours, the council approved the budget with 30 votes in favour, two against, and 23 abstentions.
The final council tax bill will be made up of the city council’s share, plus extra amounts from the fire service and police.