Councillors also agree to leave streetlights on for longer
Councillors in South Gloucestershire on Wednesday 19th February voted to freeze Council Tax for the fourth year in a row, increase funding for voluntary groups and accelerate the expansion of two leisure centres.
It comes after news that an extra £4.3m ‘collection fund surplus’ will be shared out amongst the council £3.69m, police (£0.47m) and fire service (£0.18m).
This had sparked calls from Conservative councillors for a Council Tax freeze for the fourth year running – instead of increasing it by 2 per cent as the council had planned – and to use any money that’s leftover to protect services which would otherwise be cut.
Cllr John Calway (Con, Longwell Green), Leader of the Conservative Group on the politically ‘hung’ council, said:
“I’m delighted that the council has agreed to Conservative demands to freeze its part of the Council Tax bill for the fourth year in a row because this will save the average local household £350 over the four years.
We have also ruled out the introduction of charging to use council car parks because this protects local households who are struggling with the high cost of living.
And there is also funding leftover to protect the services that residents tell us are most important to them, including services which help residents feel safe and be safe, services which keep our streets clean and services which support our local young people.
Our group is also pleased to have got agreement on our proposals for additional funding to support local voluntary groups, change the council’s controversial part-night lighting policy and accelerate plans to expand leisure centres at Bradley Stoke and Longwell Green.”
A household Council Tax bill is made up of numerous ‘precepting authorities’, including town/parish councils, police and fire authority, as well as South Gloucestershire Council.