Time is running out for people in Nottingham to have their say on plans which would see their council tax bill going up by the maximum amount allowed. Nottingham City Council revealed last month that it was planning to increase council tax by 5% and to cut 110 jobs within the authority to try and fill a financial hole of £32million for the next financial year, starting in April.
The new savings planned from April are so far worth £29m and they include reviewing fees and charges at car parks, leisure centres and museums, withdrawing the wheelchair hire service at the Victoria Centre and stopping the collection of household bins put out on the wrong day. Changes to adult social care are also being planned, including more independent living support instead of residential or nursing care, as well as the mothballing of two floors at the council's Loxley House headquarters.
The council had warned that a funding gap of £3.2m still existed for next year, although its outgoing finance chief recently said this could be "eliminated" by the Government's provisional funding offer for councils. Work on finding further savings was due to be taking place until a meeting of the authority's executive board in February.
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The public consultation on the plans has been running since December and will close on January 25, with an online survey on the council's website being available to complete. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in his budget that local councils would be able to increase council tax by 4.99% without a referendum, and Nottingham City Council is planning to do so for the next two years.
The authority then plans to raise council tax by 2% for the following two years. Across the four-year period of its financial plan, which overall covers the period from April 2023 until April 2027, Nottingham City Council says that its plan will mean a budget surplus of £8.8m.
Councillor David Mellen, leader of Nottingham City Council, said: "There is just a day left to give your feedback on our proposals to balance the council’s budget for the forthcoming financial year. All views will be taken into consideration before proposals are put back before our Executive Board next month and ratified at March's meeting of the full council."
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