Lincolnshire County Council pushes ahead with plans for 2.99% council tax rise for 2025/26

Lincolnshire County Council plans to move forward with a 2.99% rise in council tax for 2025/26.

During a meeting on Tuesday, February 4, members of the council's executive recommended the increase following a public consultation that opened on January 8. The final decision will be subject to approval from the full council at its budget-setting meeting on Friday, February 21.

The increase is expected to generate an additional £11.7 million, based on the current council tax base, raising Band D bills from £1,578.69 to £1,625.85 annually.

The survey launched last month received 740 responses from 653 contributors. On the question of preferred options for council tax, there were 725 responses, with two-thirds (67%) said to have agreed with the executive's recommendation of a 2.99% increase.

Meanwhile, almost two in 10 residents (19%) supported a 3.99% increase, while more than 14% felt a 4.99% increase would be best.

During the meeting, Michelle Grady, assistant director of finance, said the council was in an "improved position" compared to when central government announced its provisional local government finance settlement in December.

The final settlement - published on Monday, February 3 - confirmed the council's allocation of an Employer National Insurance Contributions Grant of £4.242 million, which is £615,000 higher than the council had assumed.

The CSC Prevention Grant, which funds preventative measures in Children's Social Care, was also increased by £253,000 from the £2.966 million set out in the provisional settlement.

When asked by leader Martin Hill (Conservative) about other councils increasing their council tax by over 5%, the maximum before a referendum, Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources Andrew Crookham said six councils in total had requested permission to do so due to financial difficulties.

The Labour-run council in Bradford has recently been given approval to increase its council tax by 9.9%, although it had submitted a bid for a 14.99% rise.

Of the six councils, Crookham noted that at least two receive significantly larger proportions of the government's recovery grant than Lincolnshire does.

This frustrated Coun Hill, who described it as a "case of rewarding failure".

Coun Colin Davie (Conservative) shared his concerns about the hospitality industry in the current tough economic climate, advocating for 2.99% increase.

"Hospitality and leisure businesses are really right on the wire and I don’t think we’re seeing the whole impact yet on budget changes," he said.

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