Town hall row after council tax increase of almost three per cent approved

The Labour administration says the increase is needed to address rising demand for services, as well as inflationary pressures. Among the largest budget concerns are adult social care, home to school transport, waste management, and children’s residential placements.

The council tax increase, which includes a one per cent rise in basic council tax and two per cent for the adult social care precept, will mean that council tax for a Band D property will rise from £1,816.15 to £1,870.63.

Despite this, finance bosses have forecast that the authority will need to use up to £3.1 million of its reserves to balance the books this year.

Fees for adult social care services will also increase, with the weekly cost for residential care for older people increasing from £708.30 to £722.47, and for individuals with learning disabilities, it will rise from £795.30 to £811.21.

The budget also includes £6m for flood prevention in Catcliffe, £4m for new bin lorries, £570,000 for a new ‘Street Safe Team’ to enhance safety in the town centre, £718,000 to help 1,250 residents find work or training, £307,000 for a roadside cleansing team, £50,000 for free parking in the town centre and £2m for road improvements.

However, opposition Conservative councillors proposed reducing the council tax increase from three per cent to two and a half per cent, cutting funding for various services while increasing investment in road repairs, road safety, CCTV, and street cleaning.

Their proposals would save £30,000 by halting the development of the Food Works programme, which uses surplus food to create meals for those in need, and £25,000 by cutting funding for a programme aimed at reducing hate crime. Additionally, £187,310 would be saved by reducing funding for universal baby packs for expectant parents.

Conservative councillor Zachary Collingham, who moved the amendment, told the meeting that the three per cent council tax increase is ‘too high’, and should be kept to a minimum.

“We feel that there are some [budget proposals] that have been taken too far,” he said.

“If we’ve got some money, however small it is…then we know how we’d like to spend it, and it isn’t on upcycled food cafes and lessons on how not to hate. It’s putting money into basic services. We should only be raising the money that we actually need for the basic services.”

Labour councillor Robert Taylor branded the Conservative proposals ‘depressingly familiar’, adding that any savings made by not replacing ageing bin lorries would be ‘swallowed up’ by maintenance of the vehicles.

Cllr Rachel Hughes referred to the violent incident at the Holiday Inn Express last August when discussing the proposed reduction in funding for a hate crime program.

“We saw first hand what that kind of hate looks like, when I saw a woman with her child, encouraging her child to shout racial abuse. We’ve got a long way to go yet, and cutting the funding for that is not the way forward.

Cllr Joanna Baker Rogers said that it was ‘beyond the pale’ to reduce funding for the baby packs, accusing the Conservatives of ‘penalising residents from their first breath’.

Council leader Chris Read said the universal baby packs saved families the ‘indignity’ of means testing, and concluded that the council tax increase was the lowest in Yorkshire, and the third lowest in the country.

In response to the criticism, Cllr Collingham defended the proposals, saying that the Conservatives’ plans would not remove the baby packs completely.

“I hope everyone here had a baby pack when they were born, and that they haven’t been penalised.

“It’s a world of finite resources,” he added. “Things have got to be targeted and prioritised.”

However, the motion was lost following a vote, and Labour’s budget was approved.