By Richard Johnstone | 6 February 2015
Brighton & Hove City Council could be the first council in England to hold a referendum on a council tax increase after proposing it rise by 5.9% for 2015/16.
The spending plan from the authority’s minority Green Party administration will need to be approved by the full council before a referendum is held. Local government minister Kris Hopkins confirmed earlier this week that councils that proposed an increase of 2% or above would need to hold a local vote to approve it, and also that authorities would be given a grant to freeze council tax for a fifth year from April.
Since the government introduce its funding for a council tax freeze in 2011/12, it has also required any council that wants to increase rates by more than 2% to put the plan to a local vote. However, no poll has yet been held.
Setting out the proposal, the council’s finance lead Ollie Sykes said local services were under huge pressure, and the predicted combination of increased demand and reduced funding from government meant savings of £102m would be needed over the next five years. This is on top of £77m already made in the last four years, he said.
‘Decisions on where to spend less will be tough but we can’t stand still if we are to keep providing the city with public services whilst absorbing the extreme reduction in government grants.’
Under the proposed increase, the council would still need to make nearly £20.6m of spending reductions. This is lower than the £24.9m needed under the substitute budget, which is based on a 1.99% rise. A substitute budget is needed in case the planned increase is not approved in the local referendum, and this level of increase.
A budget which accepts the government’s freeze grant and requiring £25.8m of reductions has also been prepared for councillors.
The budget documents warn that scale of the reductions mean Brighton & Hove may need to end or reduce some services if they are not considered the most effective way of meeting certain aims.
In addition, services including adult social care, housing, children’s services and public health will need to be put our for tender in a bit to find savings and to ensure integration under the government’s Better Care Fund.
