Nottinghamshire County Council's finance chief says the authority tried to 'tax as little as possible' in its budget plans as households face a rise of nearly 5%. Ben Bradley, the council's leader, recently revealed budget plans which will see all Nottinghamshire households paying at least £50 a year extra in council tax.
Councillor Bradley said there was nothing in the Conservative-controlled council's budget plans that he would "struggle to defend." The proposed tax rise is 4.84%, just under the new maximum of 5% that councils are now allowed to increase tax by without holding a referendum.
Councillor Bradley at the time highlighted the fact that the council wasn't planning to raise tax by the full maximum, saying the authority had taken on "a lot of the pain" from inflation itself. But given the difference is just 0.16%, one councillor has questioned why Nottinghamshire County Council isn't proposing the full rise of 5%.
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Labour's Councillor Jim Creamer was speaking at a meeting of the council's overview committee on Tuesday, January 24. He said that he believed the majority of taxpayers would be charged just 4p a week short of a 5% council tax rise under current plans.
But Councillor Richard Jackson, the Cabinet Member for Finance, responded to this by saying: "What we set out to do is to balance the budget and set the council tax at the necessary rate to fill that gap. We're not going to take more from people than we absolutely need to just because we can and if that's what you're arguing, then that's interesting and I look forward to seeing your alternative budget proposals.
"We start from the principle of taxing as little as possible and I'm not going in the reverse way by maximising the council tax take and then working out how we can spend the extra. What we've got is a very well balanced budget."
Nigel Stevenson, the Service Director of Finance at Nottinghamshire County Council, spoke at the meeting about a recent consultation on the budget plans. Closing on January 2, the consultation had 2,452 responses.
Addressing the results of it, Mr Stevenson said: "The majority of respondents said they wouldn't like reductions to services and most of our respondents would actually rather see an increase in council tax than a reduction in services. It's that difficult act of balancing the requirement of an authority to deliver services and the increased costs of those services."
But Councillor Kate Foale, the leader of the Labour Group at the county council, questioned the validity of the consultation by saying: "I'm really concerned about the number of responses you had to your budget consultation. I understand all the issues but can I ask that we scrutinise how we consult in this authority."
The overview committee chairman responded by saying that a review into how the county council does consultations is due in May. Councillor Foale responded by saying: "It's a bit late."
Addressing the wider challenges being faced by the council in drawing up its budget plans, Nigel Stevenson added: "It's getting harder and harder to find savings or reductions from services because they are quite vital services for our residents. Even though we've got our assumptions for next year in terms of pressures and inflation, who knows in terms of whether inflation will be longer and harder and continue at a higher rate.
"That will always be an issue for us in terms of balancing that risk. Likewise, particularly around social care services, we estimate what the numbers are and the costs that we face but you just don't know what will turn up in terms of need."
The county council's budget plans will be voted on by a full council meeting at a later date, with the proposals due to come into effect in April. Separately, Nottingham City Council is nearing the end of a consultation on its own budget plans to increase council tax by the maximum allowed.
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