Council Tax and Social Housing Rent rises in Gateshead.

Gateshead Council’s new budget including council tax and social housing rent hikes “put’s the most vulnerable at the heart of everything we do”, says council leader and Labour councillor Martin Gannon.

The council’s Labour majority approved a budget to increase council tax to 4.99% and to spend £25m in reserves. However, the governing party refused Lib Dem pleas for £2.1m from reserves to buy more time for Birtley Swimming Pool and Gateshead Leisure Centre, both of which face potential closure.

Leader of the Gateshead Liberal Democrats Ron Beadle pleaded with the Labour Group for £2.1m to maintain the centres for a whole year, while a panel of experts, community organisations, and council officers explore further options for the sports hubs.

Council leader Martin Gannon reminded councillors the budget already allocated £700,000 for an extended public consultation and pledged an additional £200,000 to help with a community asset transfer if a suitable partner can be found.

Coun Gannon said: “I am not going to prejudge the result of the review that is taking place, the reports will come back to cabinet in June. However, what I’m saying is we cannot avoid difficult decisions.

“We have to face how we deal with that chronic structural deficit in leisure services. It is not about increasing fees, that’s a complete red herring. It’s not about putting more cans of coke in the vending machines.

“It’s not about increasing the catering offer and it’s not about spending more money on marketing and it’s not about taking more money from reserves without a plan of how to deal with that structural deficit.”

The budget will also see council tax rise by 4.99%. For the vast proportion of Gateshead residents (89.9%), living in band A homes, this equates to an additional £1.29 a week.

However, Gateshead Council has retained a council tax support scheme allowing 12,000 people, of working age, to pay no more than 8.5% of their bill, around £130 a year. Over 5,000 pensioners in the area are not liable for any council tax.

£500,000 has been allocated to help cushion the new council tax by £25 for approximately 20,000 households. A discretionary support fund totalling £130,000 has also been put in place to protect the most vulnerable in “exceptional circumstances”.

Rents for social houses and affordable homes will see a hike of 7%. The average council house will see its rent jump to £89 a week, whereas affordable home rent will increase, on average, to £117 a week.

However, 71% of the council tenants receive either Universal Credit or housing benefits which will largely cushion the rent increase. Councillors say the increase in the rents will help deliver faster repairs and contribute to £168m worth of investments in the council’s housing stock.

The price of numerous council services has also increased. Parking spaces at Coach Park are expected to increase between 15% and 25%. in addition, crematorium costs will increase by 8.25% to keep in line with neighbouring local authorities.