READING Borough Council has laid out its cost increases amid the announcement of a nearly 3% rise in council tax.
The council has cited high inflation and increased demand on services for the increases in council tax, due to come into effect later this year.
They have invested an extra £5.5m in adult social care services to counter inflation, and an extra £7.4m for children’s social care.
An extra £1m has been added to its homeless prevention funding following a “significant increase” in families needing council support and higher rate of evictions.
Waste disposal has also seen an up-tick of more than £1m in costs.
As a result, the council is proposing an increase to council tax of 2.99% and an additional increase of 2% in the Adult Social Care precept for the 2024/2025 period.
This represents an increase of £1.64 a week for the average Band C property; around 70% of properties in Reading are classed as Band C or below.
They are also proposing to maintain the discretionary reduction for those receiving council tax support, which sees an automatic reduction of relevant bills by £80.
Police and fire precepts are yet to be confirmed by Thames Valley Police and the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service respectively.
Reading Borough Council has said also that it intends to proceed with a number of investments in infrastructure and facilities, however.
These include the continued road repair and resurfacing programme, the development of the new Central Library and civic centre, additions to The Hexagon theatre, and further investment in leisure facilities, green energy, and the Minster Quarter development.
The Council’s investment draft totals just over £333 million for next five years, including £190.5 million on core services and £142.6 million on the housing revenue.
It is funded from a combination of successful bids for grants, revenue contributions, external borrowing, developer contributions, infrastructure funding and capital receipts, which are received when the Council sells a building it no longer needs.
Proposals are due to be discussed at the Policy Committee meeting on Monday, February 19, before a final debate at a full council meeting on Tuesday, February 27.
Councillor Jason Brock, Reading Council Leader, said: “Years of prudent planning means Reading remains financially stable and is able to continue to invest in improved facilities for residents, unlike many other local councils.
“That does not however mean we are immune to the acute pressures facing us all. Stubbornly high inflation impacts on the cost of providing services, and the on-going cost-of-living crisis means more people are approaching the Council for support.
He explained: “Pressures are particularly evident in the social care sector, where the cost of placements to protect children in care is rising fast, as is the cost of caring for older and vulnerable residents.
“In Reading, the percentage of our overall budget being spent on adults and children’s social care has now reached 68%, which places a considerable burden on the budgets of remaining universal services, which residents quite rightly value.”
He continued: “A total of 12 Section 114 notices have been issued by local councils since 2018 – declaring themselves effectively bankrupt – compared to just two over the previous 18 years.
“The sector is in crisis, and we will see much more negative news from elsewhere in this county and the country.
“While the hasty announcement of some additional funding was recently made by Government as part of the Final Local Government Finance Settlement, in reality it pales into insignificance and is a mere 10% of the additional £20.6 million for additional costs we have had to find next year alone.”
He concluded: “We fully acknowledge a Council Tax rise is never welcome, particularly in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, but these rises were once again assumed by the Government in this year’s finance settlement.
“As always, my preference would be that the Government provides a realistic and sustainable funding solution for local councils, rather than placing the burden on local residents.
“Reading Council is again protecting those hardest hit by inflation by increasing the discretionary reduction for residents eligible for our local Council Tax Support Scheme, which means eligible residents will have their Council Tax bills automatically reduced such that they are protected from the increase.”
A draft of the council’s full report is available via: democracy.reading.gov.uk
