Council tax freeze agreed in ‘consensus’ budget
Average household set to save £139 under third year of freeze
A campaign to freeze South Gloucestershire’s Council Tax for a third year running has taken a major step forward, delighting Conservative councillors.
At a meeting on (Monday 11th February), councillors on the authority’s Policy and Resources Committee agreed unanimously to recommend a ‘consensus budget’ for a final decision to be made by all councillors at a Full Council meeting later this month.
This ‘consensus budget’ includes the key Conservative budget demand for a third council tax freeze, which will have saved the average Band D household £139 over 3 years.
Conservative councillors had identified the £0.9m needed to freeze the council tax by freezing the council’s provision for inflation, although inflationary increases written into the council’s contracts would remain unaffected.
Also met were Conservative demands for a Fair Pay Review to control the pay of the council’s higher earners – councillors heard at the meeting how 8 of the authority’s highest paid officers will receive an automatic contractually-obliged £2,032 ‘pay increment’, which would be on top of a planned council-wide 1 per cent pay rise.
Cllr John Calway (Con, Longwell Green), Leader of the Conservative Group on the politically ‘hung’ council, said:
“The Conservative group’s number one priority is to protect hardworking local households who are struggling with the rising cost of living and so we are delighted that the other political groups have agreed to drop their plans to increase council tax by 2 per cent and freeze it instead.
South Gloucestershire’s part of the council tax is one household item that does not have to increase because of our plan to freeze it by freezing the council’s provision for inflation – it’s a straight forward swap.
As a result, the average Band D household is on course to have saved £139 on their council tax bill over 3 years.”
He added:
“We are also pleased that our demand for a Fair Pay Review has been agreed because, as well as protecting workers on low pay through the Living Wage, we also need to control pay at the top of the council.”
A final decision on the council’s budget is due to be made by all councillors at a Full Council meeting on Wednesday 20th February.
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.