Council tax in Lincolnshire could rise by 5%
The County Council's discussing the rise which would come in this April if given final approval
Council tax for residents in Lincolnshire could be set to jump by 5%, after the county council’s executive unanimously approved recommendations for the upcoming 2024/25 budget.
At a meeting of Lincolnshire County Council’s Executive on Tuesday, January 9, a report into the budget and spending plan for 2024/25 was discussed. It showed a budget requirement of £639.1 million, which is 5.8% higher than then last financial year.
Councillors hear there are some £60 million of cost pressures — brought on mainly by inflation, £16 million of adult social care increases, and a “bolt from the blue” £6 million gap from the National Living Wage increases — balanced out by around £19 million of savings and additional income, as well as £7.1 million from the council’s reserves.
These cost pressures, alongside the clear need for flood provisions in the future, saw the executive support the latest budget, including a 4.99% council tax increase, the largest of three available options for council taxation.
The increase means Band D properties will be paying £1,578.69 for 2024/25 if the recommendations are approved later this month, translating to a £55.06 increase on last year and an extra £1.44 per property per week.
Some £305 million will be spent in the adult care and community wellbeing sector, £114 million has been allocated for children’s services, £49 million for highways and £25 million for Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue.
Lincolnshire County Council leader Martin Hill said the council was “under a lot of pressure,” like “most of local government” is, but said that difficult decisions had to be made in order to plug spending gaps.
“Keeping in mind the pressure that households are under, in particular with inflation and other things going on, we want to try and keep the council tax as low as possible,” he said.
“In Lincolnshire we have one of the lowest council taxes in the country, but even so, although we could go up to 5% without a referendum, we initially thought we’d be able to keep it lower than 5% to try and help residents and households.
“What happened over the end of last year is the government surprisingly announced an extra boost to the National Living Wage, which is great because that means people on the minimum wage will get more income, but it has a big effect on councils who deliver social care, because there’s a big extra cost to the county council.”
Cllr Hill said the impact of the National Living Wage increase for Lincolnshire was an extra £6 million spend, leaving Lincolnshire County Council with “no option” but to opt for the maximum 5% increase in council tax.
He cites the government’s “long term plan” to reduce “funding for local government in the future” and says the council recognised the extra costs that needed to be covered — a major factor in the decision on council tax rates.
The council leader said the “vast majority” of councils will be going for a 5% council tax increase, after discussions with “colleagues across the country,” but reassured residents that Lincolnshire will still “remain in a very low place comparatively” when it comes to the amount of council tax we collect.
As for the Lincolnshire County Council Executive Member for Economic Development, Cllr Colin Davie, he argued that “government has never really favoured places like Lincolnshire,” which has meant the council has had to champion “resilience” and “resources” to meet “unexpected circumstances.”
He said: “Quite clearly, the events of the last few months have taught me, with environment in my portfolio, that we’re going to need more resources to deal with some of the challenges related to climate change.
“Any year where there’s an election there’s going to be uncertainty. We have no guarantee of funding going forward, there are different priorities if there’s a change of government, and quite honestly I don’t think my government Conservative has particularly looked after us in places like Lincolnshire.
“I think we need to be very clear that if we’re going to have a well-managed authority, which we do have, people expect us to get good services at a sensible price. We don’t waste money, we’re very good at cutting out waste and getting services delivered on budget.
“We just have to make sure that, in an uncertain world, we have the resources necessary to protect our communities and give them what they need in terms of support and exceptional events that we’ve seen recently.”
The report will go back to Lincolnshire County Council Executive next month, before it is presented to Full Council for sign off.