Final rubber stamp for council tax and rent rise in Rotherham despite opposition

Council tax will increase by four per cent, and council tenants will pay an extra seven per cent rent in the coming financial year.

Without this increase, Rotherham Council says it would have to make cuts in excess of £10 million.

The increase is made up of a two per cent increase in council tax, plus a two per cent increase in the precept to pay for adult social care.

The total four per cent rise is below the five per cent maximum councils can hike council tax by each year.

The proposed increase will raise an additional £4.8m to be split between council services and funding increased costs in providing adult social care.

The issue was debated by councillors during Rotherham’s last budget meeting on March 1, and was agreed by Labour and opposed by the Liberal Democrats and Conservative group, which each proposed their own amendments.

During the meeting, Councillor Sarah Allen said that 16,227 households in receipt of benefits will not be affected by the rent increase, and the rise will ‘still leave us with a budget pressure’.

Councillor Chris Read, leader of the council said: “Councils across the country are facing the most challenging financial environment in the history of local government.

“Because we keep making the difficult choices, ours is the third lowest increase of any upper tier authority in Yorkshire this year.

However, the Liberal Democrat group voted against the budget, with leader Councillor Adam Carter stating that council had a ‘lack of cost control’.

Councillor Drew Tarmey added: “We do feel that this budget means substantial borrowing to fund services that residents don’t want.”

The Conservative group also voted against Labour’s budget, with Councillor Baum-Dixon telling the meeting he was concerned that council is run by ‘bureaucrats’, with ‘no innovation and no drive to do anything different’.

Leader of the group, Councillor Simon Ball, added: “All councillors, who supported the Labour council tax increase need to go back to their wards and explain why they are yet again squeezing the income of the many hard working households who are struggling to get by.”