Telford council tax to rise 3.2 per cent despite £3.1 million cash pot
Council tax bills will rise in Telford & Wrekin by 3.2 per cent, it was announced today – as civic leaders revealed they were sitting on a £3.1 million pot of cash.
The above inflation rise in bills will come in this year and will also be repeated for the following two years.
It comes as papers released ahead of the council's next cabinet meeting revealed it has underspent this year's budget by £3.1 million, which it claims reflects the "strength of financial management" by the authority.
Budget proposals are set to be agreed by Telford & Wrekin's full council on March 2.
The majority view from members of the public who responded to the council's budget consultation was that the council should keep the level of increase to 3.2 per cent per year.
The council says it intends to invest an extra £780,000 for adult social care and increase budgets for the safeguarding of children, partly funded by an increase in revenue from business rates.
It has also set out its investment programme, where it intends to increase growth from commercial services run by the council, like its solar farm and NuPlace housing project.
It says it will upgrade roads, bridges and footpaths, launch borough-wide regeneration schemes, undertake a new phase of the Pride in Your Community programme and invest in building capacity in the voluntary sector.
The council is also looking to continue with its growth programme, which it says has so far seen more than 1,000 jobs created.
Cabinet member Councillor Lee Carter warned the borough continued to face major challenges, adding: "The answer to the long term funding situation in adult social care is beyond the power of Telford & Wrekin Council. It is a crisis of national proportions. We will be lobbying hard along with other councils to make the case for a fair funding solution from Government."
The council has reduced the number of jobs by 1,520 since April 2010, saving around £28m per year. This has seen 645 vacant posts deleted and 875 redundancies. The size of the senior management team has also reduced by 57 per cent.
Council leader Shaun Davies has previously warned the authority would have to reduce its budget by another £35 million – on top of £100 million cuts already made – and called for a fairer funding settlement from the Government. The council is expected to have made savings of £96 million by the end of the current financial year.
In a financial management report it says the £3.1m of underspent money is available to meet any unforeseen costs in the remainder of the year. Any money that remains at the end of the year will help general funds.
