Maximum Council Tax increase 'truly necessary', says Suffolk County Council finance lead as budget approved

A maximum increase of an authority's Council Tax was 'truly necessary' to avoid difficult decisions, a finance lead has said.

Cllr Richard Smith, Suffolk County Council's lead for finance, proposed the authority's budget during yesterday afternoon's full council meeting.

His proposals included a maximum tax rise of 4.99 per cent, consisting of a 2.99 per cent increase in Council Tax and two per cent in its social care precept.

He said although the council had been able to avoid difficult cost-saving decisions which had proved controversial in recent years, the tax hike was 'truly necessary'.

He said: "What I can promise the Council Tax taxpayers of Suffolk is that we'll spend their money wisely and carefully and continue to provide our services to the best possible standard at the best possible value for money."

"Suffolk is in safe hands, this is a sensible and secure budget for a successful future."

The tax hike is equivalent to £1.51 weekly for a Band D property and £1.17 for Band B and, thanks to an increase in Suffolk's tax base, would net the council an additional £35.9 million in funding.

On the authority's reserves, the finance lead said although they were stable, the council wasn't able to replenish them just yet.

It is hoped devolution will help the council make savings, with Cllr Smith arguing more than one unitary authority for the whole of Suffolk would be unlikely to cut costs 'on any great scale'.

Elsewhere in Suffolk, however, Ipswich councillors agreed to bid for the creation of a Greater Ipswich unitary authority.

Unlike last year, opposition groups did not submit any amendments to the budget.

Cllr Andrew Stringer, leader of the Green, Liberal Democrat and Independent Group, said this was due to the little leeway within the authority's books.

He added: "The county council budget is actually in such a perilous state [...] there is simply no meaningful room left for manoeuvre."

On Labour's side, Cllr Sandy Martin said the papers were not conducive to local democracy but called for reserves to be used on preventative services.

He said: "The conservative approach for 15 years has been to spend less money than they had available, and the upshot is that more and more of this council's budget has to be spent on picking up the pieces of Suffolk residents' broken lives."

Looming over the council's reserves, which can only cover two and a half months of the authority's spending, are concerns over its performance against the Dedicated School's Grant (DSG).

The DSG is the money local authorities receive from the Government each year to fund schools and, as it stands, can be overspent through what is known as ‘statutory override’ until March 2026 without it affecting their books.

In Suffolk, the DSG reserve is already being overspent, with the report forecasting a £54.1 million shortfall by April, £165.6 million by 2026 and £358.7 million by 2027.

Cllr Smith said this was the biggest concern facing the council and pleaded with the Government to reform the social care system promptly, warning it could 'be too late for local government, reformed or not'.

As part of the council's plans £18.1 million extra will be put toward children's services and £35.2 million into adult care.

Councillors agreed to approve the budget with 49 votes for, four against, and one abstention.