County councillors set to discuss proposed rise in council tax

Durham County Council’s cabinet is recommended to agree a 2.99% increase in Council Tax for 2018/19 – with an additional 2% increase to the Adult Social Care Precept.

This equates to a £1.38 per week rise for Band D properties and 92p per week for the majority of council tax payers, who live in Band A properties.

It comes as councillors will discuss plans to make savings from its revenue budget of £43.7million over the next four years.

This includes savings of £15.3million for 2018/19 and is in addition to the £209 illion of savings it has achieved since 2011/12.

The council invited people to give their views on its spending plans during a consultation at the end of last year, with more than three quarters backing the authority’s approach.

More than 3,300 people attended events to hear how the authority plans to make the required savings, with 1,175 offering their feedback.

More than 78 per cent of those who took part in the consultation felt that the authority’s approach to making future savings is a reasonable way to go forward in 2018/19.

Their comments have helped inform the council’s Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP), which outlines its long-term funding outlook and spending priorities for the period 2018/19 to 2021/22.

Coun Simon Henig, leader of Durham County Council, said: “The financial outlook for the council and the whole of local government remains extremely challenging, and unless something changes we still have significant savings to make.”