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Chronicle Live

National

Chris Binding

Council tax will go up again in Sunderland

Sunderland (Geopolitical Entity) Graeme Miller Labour Group Sunderland City Council

Council tax is set to rise again on Wearside after Sunderland City Council agreed spending plans for the coming year.

This week, councillors voted to approve a budget which includes a council tax rise of 2.99 per cent from April.

This is made up of a 1.99 per cent rise in core council tax and a one per cent government levy earmarked for adult social care services in the city.

As part of the 2022/23 budget, the council needs to make savings of around £5.8 million and also use £5.430 million of reserves to help balance the books.

Final council tax bills include charges levied on behalf of Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Authority and the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner – with both ‘precepts’ increasing this year.

Those who live in the Hetton Town Council area will also pay a precept to the town council, which features as an extra amount on their council tax bill, however no increases are proposed to the precept for 2022/23 which will remain at the same rate for the fourth successive year.

The council tax changes were part of a budget proposed by the council’s Labour Group at a meeting on Wednesday, March 2 at City Hall.

'Unprecedented times'

Councillor Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council, said the budget would allow the council to continue with “ambitious social and economic regeneration plans” whilst “protecting and supporting those residents most in need”.

The council chief also insisted that the rise to household bills had been forced upon the council by the government and that more sustainable funding was needed for local government.

Cllr Miller told the meeting: “Raising council tax is not a decision we take lightly, especially in these unprecedented times.

“But if we don’t raise council tax now, we will need to identify service reductions and not continue with the investment in the development of our city.

“We have therefore taken the difficult decision to raise council tax to protect what our residents need and continue with the delivery of our plan and ambition as set out in the City Plan.”

Councillors heard that the council tax increase represented an increase of 59p per week for a Band A property, into which the majority of households in Sunderland fall, or 89p per week for the average Band D property.

Cllr Miller added that Sunderland’s council tax rate would remain the lowest in Tyne and Wear and the wider North East region providing “strong value for money for our residents.”

Revenue budget proposals for 2022/23 include additional funding to support environmental services delivery, children’s and adult social care and investment in waste collection and recycling through reviewing the arrangements for replacement bins and bulky waste.

Elsewhere, the budget allows for the continuation of free pest control services for eligible city residents into next year – an initiative introduced by the council in October 2021 for a 12-month period.

Funding is also being proposed to support the council’s capital investment proposals to support the delivery of the City Plan, with a programme of over £295 million in 2022/23.

Some new projects include developing a business case for a multi-million pound arena at the former Crowtree Leisure Centre site, the ongoing regeneration of the Sunniside district, improvements to city parks, and investment into leisure facilities and libraries.

Plans also cover funding for a Elemore Green Space and Social Enterprise development in Hetton, a replacement Coalfields Depot and provision of a Salt Barn and further investment for the South Hylton Day Centre project.

The opposition's proposals

During the budget meeting, amendments to the Labour Group budget were submitted by the city council’s Conservative and Liberal Democrat opposition groups.

The Conservative Group proposed saving around £1.8 million from the council’s day-to-day revenue budget by cutting special responsibility allowances for councillors, reducing the council’s communications and events budgets and abolishing councillors’ expenses, amongst other proposals.

The Conservatives aimed to redirect this funding to bring forward a reduction in the Labour’s Group’s council tax increase, alongside other proposals ranging from three new park and cemetery wardens, expanded CCTV and ‘trolley impound enforcement officers’ to retrofitting public waste bins with ‘smart sensors’ to prevent overflowing and a ‘beautification programme’ to improve city centre shop fronts.

The Liberal Democrats aimed to save around £1.7 million from the council’s revenue budget by cutting the number of the council’s Area Committees from five to three, reducing basic and special responsibility allowances for councillors, slashing the council’s corporate communications budget and removing a £1 million budget for carbon reduction.

Instead, the Lib Dems aimed to reduce the proposed council tax rise by one per cent, to allocate funding for five additional dog wardens, to increase community arts budgets at the Museum and Winter Gardens, to reverse the 2022/23 brown bin charge increase and to introduce a free bulky item collection service for those in receipt of council tax support, as well as other proposals.

Amendments to Labour’s capital budget proposals were also submitted by both opposition groups.

The Conservatives proposed reducing the budget for the F-Pit redevelopment in Washington by £4.5 million and redirecting the funding towards a range of localised projects and a new ‘gully cleaning vehicle’ for the city, as well as redirecting £1 million towards city-wide road resurfacing, pothole and pavement repairs.

Meanwhile, the capital budget amendment from the Lib Dems aimed to reallocate around £10.6 million from an existing budget pot to establish a working group to put together a five-year leisure investment strategy for Sunderland.

This aimed to make improvements to public leisure space, establishing funds for the maintenance and improvement of smaller suburban parks, enhancing the existing cycle way investment scheme and establishing a programme of creating dog parks in sites in Sunderland, Houghton and Washington.

Councillor Antony Mullen, leader of the Conservative Group, said his group’s amendment provided a budget that was “balanced, fair and responsible, putting people before politics and was a preview of a what a Conservative-led council would deliver after May”.

Councillor Niall Hodson, leader of the Wearside Liberal Democrats, said that raising council tax was a “political decision” and that the Lib Dem Group amendment aimed to “lessen the impact on residents’ pockets”.

Cllr Hodson also claimed that the Labour Group’s budget was “prioritising city centre regeneration projects over the household bills of residents.”

Councillor Graeme Miller, leader of the council, accused both opposition groups of “political posturing” over the budget and noted the impact of cuts to Sunderland City Council funding over the past decade.

Cllr Miller added the council has had £300 million “taken out” of its revenue budget” since 2010 and praised council officers for “effectively delivering the same with less”.

Following debate, both opposition budget amendments failed to win support across the council chamber.

The Labour Group’s budget was eventually passed with 33 votes in support and 28 against.